Partnerships in Madagascar

Institut Halieutique et des Sciences Marines (IH.SM), part of the University of Toliara
The Marine Science & Fisheries Institute (IH.SM) is a leading unit of the University of Toliara. It undertakes a wide range of educational, training and applied research work, including consulting services in oceanography, fisheries and aquaculture.

The Institute offers a wide range of training courses dictated by the needs of the fishing industry and its administration, engineers, biologists (MSc, PhD) and qualified technicians.

About 25 teachers and visiting lecturers provide training and cover a wide spectrum of subjects ranging from fishing and aquaculture to environmental coastal management.

In addition to working with ReefDoctor, the institute collaborates at all levels with universities, organisations and private enterprises.
Universities: Laboratoire Ecologie Marine (La Reunion), ARVAM (La Reunion), Université Montpellier II (France), ENSA de Rennes (France), Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium), Université de Mons (Belgium), Aix-Marseille-III (France), Port-Elisabeth Museum (SA), Stavanger University (Norway).
Organisations: National Program for Shrimp Research Activity (PNRC), ReefDoctor, Blue Ventures, Frontier Expeditions, WWF-Mada, WCS, QMM (Qit/Fer), School International Training (SIT/USA), ANGAP, SAGE, IRD (institute research et development).
Fishing industry: AQUALMA, AQUAMEN, REFRIGEPECHE (West & East), BIOMAD, COPEFRITO, SALINES d’IFATY.

COUT - (Cellule des Oceanographes de l’Universite de Tulear)
Established in Toliara, Madagascar, in 1993. COUT is an association of young oceanography researchers preparing for their Masters and PhDs at the IH.SM. Representing 11 teachers and 39 researchers COUT’s objectives are to:
• assemble oceanography researchers in Madagascar
• promote fundamental research and application
• develop research results from socio-economic studies and relate them to the protection of the environment
• contribute to social development
• assist and aid its members
• study, advise, assist scientifically and monitor the technique and performance of research programmes concerning the marine and coastal environment
• develop and prioritise the ecological tourist guide.

During its 13 years of operation COUT has achieved:
• An expedition for the protection of coastal reefs in the Toliara region (SW Madagascar);
• Marine Biodiversity assessment of the Ifaty zone, Anakao and the Grand Recif de Toliara with ReefDoctor, Frontier and Blue Ventures;
• Socio-economic investigation of traditional fisheries;
• Provision of environmental consultancy and expertise for the establishment of a permanent channel of passage for Vezo (local) dugout canoes on the south coast of Madagascar;
• Studies for the establishment of an ecologically sustainable fishing and aquaculture programme in Madagascar;
• Bio-ecological surveys to facilitate the development of a sustainable marine park in the Masoala area (with WCS);
• Fish biodiversity studies in the marine parks;
• Replantation of Mangroves in the Toliara region (SW Madagascar) and the harvesting rate in Nosy Ve Island;
• Culture of algae;
• Stabilisation of sand dunes to protect the village of Fistitike;
• Improving the condition of life in the Ambohitsabo district (rehabilitation of paths);
• Research into the creation of feasible protected areas in the region from Toliara to Fort Dauphin;
• Provision of equipment and materials for artisanal Vezo fisheries in the coastal region of Toliara.
• And partnerships with: WWF, UNESCO, FED-COL/ Relance du sud, ORGASYS, CARE international, ANGAP, WCS, SAGE/ONE, PAIQ, PSDR, ReefDoctor, Blue Ventures, Frontier Expeditions.

CISCO
CISCO is a national educational and managerial NGO that helps schools manage their systems by providing advice, training, materials and staff, and aids other NGOs and regional and national governments to implement educational programmes in secondary and primary schools in the south-west Madagascar.

Working with CISCO’s south-western office in Toliara, ReefDoctor has helped implement a new marine education curriculum for five primary schools around the Bay of Ranobe (including Ifaty and Mangili) as part of a national pilot programme of teaching primary school children living in coastal areas about the marine environment and its conservation.

Capricorn Coastal Alliance (CCA)
The CCA is a consortium of education, marine conservation and research organisations currently working in south-western Madagascar. CCA believes that through co-operation, consultation and sharing of resources, ideas and experience it can further the common marine conservation aims held by its members.

CCA comprises:
IH.SM - Institut d’Halieutique et de Sciences Marines, University of Toliara
COUT - Student conservation organisation based in the University of Toliara
Frontier - British international NGO based in Anakao, south of Toliara
Blue Ventures - British marine NGO based in Andavadoaka, north of Toliara
ReefDoctor - British marine NGO based north of Toliara in Ifaty

CCA aims to:
• Increase the capacity and capabilities of the IH.SM to be an internationally recognised marine institute and focal point of marine conservation work in south-west Madagascar.
• Provide dive training and field experience to students from the IH.SM who have interests in marine conservation.
• Raise community and tourist awareness of the threats facing coral reef, mangrove and seagrass ecosystems in Toliara’s coastal waters.
• Educate local communities and tourists about the small-scale efforts that can be easily made to conserve and protect threatened marine ecosystems.
• Encourage the establishment of marine protected areas around relevant study sites to create a network of reserves along the coast of the Toliara region.

Ministry of Rural Development and Rural Affairs and Ministry of Fisheries
The Ministry of Rural Development and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Fisheries are government offices that we are working with in the Toliara region. The offices are headed by Dr. Edaly who attained his PhD at Hull University in theUK.

During 2007 we will be working on a collaborative Marine Protected Area project for the SW Region headed by these two ministries with ANGAP (the National Parks Authority) and WWF.ReefDoctor will be providing reef data for MPA site choices and community liaison and education for the MPA implementation stages. 

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