Ask. Don’t Tell.

Two years ago, Sulistyaningrum and nine other conservationists in Indonesia and Timor-Leste partnered with Rare to learn social marketing tools and systems to lead change in their communities. In early May, the ten fellows celebrated the completion of Rare’s two-year training and implementation program. All ten Pride campaigns built a sense of ownership around fishery management. Though each fellow confronted different hurdles and achieved a range of successes, they all managed to inspire fishing-dependent villages to take pride in their marine resources. Continue reading

Fish as a Lifeline for Filipinos

Ayoke Island, Philippines. © Suzannah Evans

Ayoke Island’s MPA was named one of the Philippines’ top 10 marine protected areas, no small feat in a country with 1,600 MPAs, the most in the world. But as recently as December the community faced a real test when the MPA was dynamited during the town’s fiesta, when no one was volunteering at the guardhouse. Continue reading

From Dynamite Fishing to Sustainable Fishing

Rare fellow Vincent Duenas educates the community about MPAs. © Suzannah Evans

One of the biggest challenges facing sustainable fishing in the Philippines is the prevalence of dynamite fishing, where fishers create an improvised bomb out of a rum or Coke bottle and ammonium sulfate. Continue reading

Creating ‘Fish Banks’ in the Philippines

One of the popular fish mascots on Mindanao island. © Suzannah Evans.

Written by Suzannah Evans who is researching a book on the role of fish in food security with Oceana CEO Andy Sharpless. The northeast coast of Mindanao island in the Philippines is home to a series of small towns comprised … Continue reading

A trip that showed the many successful campaigns at present and in the works in the Philippines

The fabled chocolate hills. Note: This is Rare’s Senior Vice President of Global Programs Paul Butler’s sixth and final blog post in a series about his recent trip to the Philippines and Indonesia to monitor Rare’s conservation work in the … Continue reading

Helping fellows craft campaign songs, logos, posters and messages to educate people on sustainable fishing

Note: This is Rare’s Senior Vice President of Global Programs Paul Butler’s third blog post in a series about his recent trip to the Philippines and Indonesia to monitor Rare’s conservation work in the field. You can find his first post … Continue reading

Support visits are an integral part of every Rare Pride campaign

Note: This is Rare’s Senior Vice President of Global Programs Paul Butler’s first blog post in a series about his recent trip to Indonesia to monitor Rare’s conservation work in the field. Every Rare Conservation Fellow can expect to be … Continue reading

Using games to teach conservation: Cat and mouse turns into “the fisherman and the fish”

Photos courtesy of Conservation International.  Note: This blog post originated on RarePlanet, our online community inspiring conservation. It was written by Conservation Fellow Rosita Tariola and translated. The community’s role in maintaining a healthy sea is best explained by a children’s … Continue reading

Combining economics and biology with spatial-fishing models could lead to more sustainable fisheries (Q&A)

“…Fish are like trees, except they are invisible and they move. This, of course, makes them interesting to study.” – Guillermo Herrera Guillermo Herrera is currently an Economics Professor at Bowdoin College in Maine. He has his A.B. in Biology, … Continue reading