Blue Ventures is an NGO that develops community-led approaches to marine conservation that benefit communities and the environment. Five years ago, the organisation helped launch Madagascar’s PHE Network – bringing together partners in the field of health and conservation in response to the interconnected challenges of poor community health and environmental degradation. This growing network aims to improve community health in order to build resilience and support community engagement in conservation.
Marking its fifth year, the health environment network, which now has 40 partners, hosted a multi-partner celebration in Madagascar and launched a multi-media site to showcase the network’s impact and to recruit further sector partners to join its efforts.
The network tackles a range of critical issues from family planning and community-based health services to marine management and alternative livelihood provision. Over the last five years the network has thrived thanks to support from health and environmental organisations, funders and policy makers alike, creating win-win partnerships and huge benefits for communities.
The Madagascar PHE Network has already reached over 350,000 people, bringing together partners to address a web of interconnected issues that limit the take up of locally-led conservation, and will help build community resilience to climate change.
Network members build their capacity and confidence in health-environment programming through access to tools and training, exchange visits and regional and national meetings.
By collecting and sharing rigorous data and learning, the network provides a valuable insight into community needs and how to meet them. Beyond programme implementation, network partners are creating best practice guidelines and are supporting the development of a national policy framework that will further adoption of the health-environment approach to conservation.
The network has already supported natural resource management in 15 biodiversity hotspots as well as creating 300 new health service delivery points for communities living in these hotspots. It has big ambitions for the future; the PHE Network aims to reach more than 750,000 people by 2025.
To find out more about the PHE Network visit https://phemadagascar.org