Introduction

In developing a programme of sustainable conservation ReefDoctor has formulated a set of four key objectives based on conducting research that would lead to effective education, conservation and development.

ReefDoctor’s ambition is to help support and improve the welfare of populations that are dependant for a large part on a very fragile resource that may soon be condemned to exhaustion by human and natural factors.

With this in mind, our activities in Ifaty and Mangili centre on three areas:
• Reef health research
• Marine management
• Community development

Through this approach we hope to be able to manage a programme that records and monitors the current situation, while contributing to the development of sustainable fishing management and local community development.

Our reef health research programme focuses on using standard survey techniques to provide reliable information on the current status of the reef and reef fishes living in the area of the Bay of Ranobe.

Alongside this, our marine management programme enables us to establish the extent to which the local population relies on the reef for sustenance and income, how management of the existing resources may be enhanced to improve yields and reduce the impact on the reef, and on artificial habitat experiments that might help the local community manage fishing resources.

Finally, our community development programme provides educational support for all levels of the community, and explores how the introduction of alternative livelihoods and incomes such as eco-tourism might benefit their development.

The results of ReefDoctor’s surveys and programmes are fed back to the Ministry of Fisheries, other government departments and the local community to help them better manage their resources, as well as to relevant regional and international coral reef monitoring and management programmes to further wider scale studies of coral reef diversity, use and decline.

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