Blue Ventures: Good Ecology Is Good Business

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Blue Ventures (BV) run dive expeditions from Andavadoaka in Madagascar. They lead the field in volunteer conservation, and have a boat load of awards, reviews and testamonials to prove it. They have recently been recognised by the United Nations for their socio-economic concerns, and active involvement in the sustainable development of their host community.

BV have been running expeditions since 2002, and five years on maintain a philosophy that has helped win co-Founder, Tom Savage ‘Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year’ in the Edge Upstarts 2007 Awards; and seen local community members of BV and Andavadoaka honoured at the United Nations’ Headquarters in New York as winners of the highly coveted UNDP Equator Prize – Awarded to the village for its work in partnership with BV at diminishing poverty through conservation, and the sustainable use of biodiversity.

One of the most recent projects established by BV aims to reduce carbon emissions in the region and boost local employment by investing in energy efficient stoves for the village of Andavadoaka. The stoves operate on alternative fuel sources such as maize husks or other agricultural bi-products, providing an effective way for international volunteers to ‘offset’ their carbon emissions, and contribute to a cleaner, healthier future for the community they work in.

Volunteers with BV are involved in ongoing research projects that focus on providing high-quality data and recommendations to the local community, promoting sustainable use of the marine resources their economy relies on. The goal of BV is to help provide valuable advice to the local community, and assist with implementing environmental management strategies, whilst also minimizing human impacts on the environment.

Education, conservation and research are the essence of BV, and away from the village of Andavadoaka they are launching an education package for schools across the UK to try and bring classroom subjects out into the real world.

A new project off the west coast of Madagascar is taking the research methodologies piloted in Andavadoaka to an expedition based 75 kilometres south of the city of Morondava, conducted in partnership with ANGAP (The National Association for the Management of Protected Areas in Madagascar) to survey the islands and surrounding lagoonal waters of a newly proposed marine protected area.

BV are a passionate organisation, intent on diffusing knowledge and advice to those who need it most. Their active involvement in sustainable development demonstrates a brave and innovative organisation, committed to walking whilst they talk.