Where to find your next (international) job

I don’t know how 2019 was for you, but for myself and many of my friends it was one of the worst years we’ve ever experienced as job seekers. This, at a time when many companies are complaining they can’t find workers. What’s going on? Well, we aren’t computer programmers or health workers; we work primarily in conservation, environment and global development. But at a time when everyone’s going crazy about climate change, you’d think there would be more job openings rather than fewer. In any case, I’ve spent the last 10 years working short term contracts, the last 7 internationally and it seems that my greatest area of expertise just might be looking for work. I thought I’d pass some of that experience on, and hope it helps a few people.

The first caveat is that I’m Canadian, which greatly shrinks opportunities open to me. Yep, Canada is amazing, but we only have around 35 million people, which means fewer companies, smaller NGOs, and less money to invest in international development. This means that if you’re interested in working outside the country getting a work visa is a huge issue, especially if the job is based in the US, the UK or the EU. Canadians working overseas in the developing world are usually employed by international NGOs based in these regions, and they sponsor a work visa for the country of work - but upward mobility to a position in the home office may be delayed or blocked entirely.

The second caveat is that my job search starts with forestry, then goes to natural resources, then conservation. If you're a primatologist or a marine biologist some of these websites will list interesting positions, but there will be other, and maybe better sites specific to your specialty that I don't access.

One piece of advice: job hunting is the least fun thing you can do, hands down. But don’t make it worse for yourself. If you don’t meet the essential qualifications, especially with respect to required languages, degree/diploma or eligibility to work in the country, don’t waste your time applying. Move on and look at the next website. You’d be better off spending the time playing Minecraft than filling out a form or writing a cover letter for a job in Guatemala when all you know how to say in Spanish is “Hola!”.

Many of the websites on my list lean towards conservation and environment, but quite a few are larger organizations working across development sectors, and all of them are for overseas work, except for the few Canadian-based places I’ve thrown in at the end. 

Generic Job listing websites:

https://www.devex.com/ : Searchable, global. A lot of their jobs are behind a paywall, but I just google the job title and location and can usually find the job listed somewhere else. Paywalls for job seekers are evil.

http://www.devnetjobs.org/ : This site lists a lot of the same jobs as on devex, but also seem to have more positions, and they have fewer behind their paywall. Again, paywalls, job seekers, evil.

https://www.environmentjobs.com/ : I've found my last 5 overseas jobs listed here (but also cross-posted elsewhere), although most postings are UK-based, as it is a UK site. There haven’t been as many listings recently as in the last few years, so I’m not sure if that’s down to the website or if it’s a shrinking international jobs market. No paywall ‘though, so yay! for that.

https://www.environmentjob.co.uk/jobs  : This is another UK-based site with a few international jobs listed.

https://www.developmentaid.org/#!/home : Development Aid website, which is mostly a clearing house for job listings, several of which are behind an irritating paywall but can be found on other sites. Don’t pay them.

https://www.conservationjobboard.com/ : Mostly US-based work in conservation and forestry, but there are some international listings.

https://jobboard.openforests.com/ : This site has a few forestry, conservation or similar postings, mostly cross postings from other sites, but it also has academic opportunities in case you want to throw in the towel and go back to school.

There are four different websites managed through the UN:

https://unjobs.org/ : A clearing house job list, with positions that are often cross-posted on other sites; searchable.

https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_jobs.cfm : These are positions with the UN. Watch the tags for “National” or “International” and apply appropriately. They must get hundreds of applications for each job, just because they’re so well known worldwide, so it’s a tough nut to crack.

https://jobs.unops.org/pages/viewvacancy/VAListing.aspx : A different UN site, for jobs in UN Operations, across several different sectors. Again, watch for the “National” or “International” tags. 

https://www.unv.org/ : UN Volunteers, yes, but they’re looking for people with specific technical skills. And, I met a woman who was working as a UN Volunteer whose stipend was more than my salary with a British NGO. They call them volunteers probably to get around benefits and work visa requirements (don’t tell anyone). You have to register on the site, complete a profile, and then look for a position that might suit.

Career pages for international NGOs: 

http://www.fao.org/employment/en/  : The Food and Agriculture Organization. I’ve only ever gotten one interview with them and they take forever to sort through resumes (think 6 to 8 months), but they now have a lot more Personal Service Agreements (PSAs) and contract positions instead of permanent positions, which I assume they want to fill quicker. The interview was ludicrous - questions about the FAO’s values and ways of working, which didn’t apply to the technical job requirements at all.

https://www.iucn.org/about/careers : The International Union for the Conservation of Nature often has very interesting jobs listed, but they’re another outfit that take a very long time to recruit.

https://www.worldwildlife.org/about/careers : This is the US website for the WWF. The World Wildlife Fund posts its international vacancies on each country’s website, which is a bit of a challenge to find them all. For example, this is the page for WWF Cambodia: http://www.wwf.org.kh/wwf_cambodia/job_opportunities/ . However, they’re all usually cross-posted on generic job lists. They actively recruit staff and if they’re interested in you, you’ll hear from them.

https://chu.tbe.taleo.net/chu04/ats/careers/v2/jobSearch?org=CONSERVATION&cws=39 : The careers page for Conservation International which I believe is a bit suspect. They have jobs posted on there for more than a year, who knows if they ever actually recruit anyone this way?

https://www.wcs.org/about-us/careers/in-the-field : The Wildlife Conservation Society careers page, which is searchable for international locations. They also frequently cross post their jobs on generic sites. They are relatively responsive and serious about recruiting, compared to some other large organizations.

https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/careers/ : The Nature Conservancy website for the US, with international positions listed here as well.

https://www.bioversityinternational.org/ : The rare opening can be found on the Biodiversity International website. They’re usually looking for fairly highly qualified researchers.

https://www.cifor.org/ : CIFOR, the Centre for International Forestry Research, rarely has job openings for international candidates and generally are looking for researchers.

http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ : Based in Kenya, rarely looking for international staff.

Organizations working in International Development through contracts / consultancies. These are businesses that bid on funded projects, but do much of the same work as NGOs in developing livelihoods, governance, food insecurity, etc.:

https://www.winrock.org/join-us/careers/ : Winrock works globally, but they are very specific in their requirements, so make sure you meet the qualifications. Watch for the tags “Proposed” or “Project”. “Proposed” means they’ve bid for a project but haven’t been awarded it yet and they’re fishing for talent. In that case, it can often take up to a year for them to recruit for the openings.

https://www.tetratech.com/en/careers : Another US-based organization similar to Winrock with many international projects. Same deal: “Proposed” or “Project”.

https://www.wri.org/about/careers : The World Resources Institute is one for people not primarily interested in environmental jobs; they have a wide range of development projects.

https://socialimpact.com/ : Social Impact. This is one I ran across fairly recently, and haven’t found anything for myself, but they do have quite a few jobs listed. Again, be aware of whether the openings are “Proposed” (may happen sometime in the distant future) or “Project” (actively seeking staff).

Two of these based in Europe, although I’m sure there are tons more:

https://www.niras.com/jobs/vacant-positions/ : Niras, based in Denmark, is another organization bidding for development projects. Most of the permanent positions are located there or in Norway. However, they recruit consultants to work in developing countries where the projects are located.

https://jobs.giz.de/index.php?ac=search_result : This is the GIZ careers page, a German development organization which does a lot of work in support to small businesses and alternative livelihoods. A lot of the job titles are in German, but I think the international ones usually are also in English.

Want to stay home? Here are some Canadian sites:

https://www.canadian-forests.com/ : The go-to website for forestry jobs in Canada, but the vast majority are located west of Ontario. What’s up, Maritimes? Oh yeah, not a lot of jobs there.

https://www.idrc.ca/en/careers : The International Development Research Centre very rarely have openings but they are Canadian, which is a change. Funny story: after sending off my application for one of their positions, I reread my cover letter and saw that I had called them “IRDC” throughout. Didn’t get a call. (Hi, IDRC! Sorry about that.) The lesson, of course, is triple-check the documentation you’re sending. Last month I found two typos in the CV I’d been mailing out for years. Luckily, no one reads right through those anyways.

https://www.iisd.org/about/employment-and-consulting : Another Canadian organization, the International Institute for Sustainable Development; very rarely has openings.

http://www.cwf-fcf.org/en/about-cwf/jobs/ : The Canadian Wildlife Federation might have an opening every month or so, right across the country.

http://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/who-we-are/work-with-us/ : Nature Conservancy Canada has some interesting jobs occasionally, again, right across the country.

Some sites I haven’t included (looking at you, Rainforest Alliance) because they post their jobs for quite literally months and/or years, so it seems unlikely they are serious about actually picking up your resume and reading it. Smaller NGOs (ZSL, the RSPB) will post their jobs on the generic sites, although it’s always worthwhile to keep your own list of smaller organizations if you’re interested in working for them specifically just in case something pops up.

I could go on; if you know your preferred location, there are several more generic lists like Glassdoor, Linked In, Indeed, etc. Those irritate the hell out of me because you can’t search by sector or job title only - you need to enter a city or country, and can’t search over a large region like “Southeast Asia” or “Africa”. When it comes to voluntourism organizations, some of them may be good for getting your first international experience, but could also turn out to be just a way to empty your pocket in a tropical location. And of course, if you're looking just in Canada, there are lots of government (both federal and provincial) and company websites - the generic lists are often pretty good for those postings too. 

So, good luck! I'm keeping all my fingers and toes crossed for you (and me too). Here's hoping 2020 smashes 2019 in everything including the job market.

P.S. Do you know of other great sites? List them in the comments, and we all benefit.

Five years on...

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Over the past five years I’ve been up to my hips in peatland and mangrove mud; have tripped, stumbled, slipped and fallen flat on my face (literally and figuratively) in some of the most beautiful forests in the world and some back alleys in some pretty grimy cities. My ego has shrunk (I think) and my heart has expanded (I know ‘cause it’s stuffed with so many more friends). 

Nasri, my excellent colleague - I think I often prompted this look on his face 

Five years ago I headed out to find out if I had been lying to myself for most of my life. As a teenager, I determined that my life goal was to work overseas, probably one of the most nebulous goals out there, on par with “being famous”. Between that time and 2012 there were a few other things to do, and while it was a vague, half-formed idea, it was firmly lodged in the back of my mind. Meanwhile, I watched two kids grow into remarkable adults and kept the bills paid by taking any contract offered, and while some of those jobs weren’t the most fun I’ve had, each experience built on the next, and eventually became a decent compilation. So, with Alex finished college and slaving away at a job, Kirsten already through and slaving away at her own work, I started papering the globe (electronically) with my resume. No bites; no international experience. At the time, although I was pulling in a reasonable salary, every last cent was spent every month to pay the bills – and if you know me, you KNOW I’m not out clothes-shopping. Just that life is expensive in Canada, even in a small town. As a result, one quick calculation later I had decided to apply as a volunteer with CUSO working in Indonesia supporting community forest management. Travel, health insurance, visa fees and accommodation paid for plus a monthly stipend would let me work overseas (my teenage goal!) and if I wouldn’t save any money, I would still be no better or worse off than pulling in a middle-class salary in Canada.

Village in the middle of a lake, Sengkang, South Sulawesi

After a very jammy 3-week orientation in Bali, the first couple of weeks in my small town placement were awful – couldn’t speak more than a few simple sentences in Indonesia, didn’t know where to buy food or water, didn’t know what my job was or where I was going on an average day at work. Really? Was this what I imagined it would be like? I don’t even know if I had a preconceived idea of life in a completely unfamiliar country and culture, on my own, surrounded by endlessly friendly people with whom I could not communicate. It was miserable and I wanted to go home. 

But, there was lots of support – other volunteers (especially Margaret and Noelle) were a phone call or text away - and internet connections make it very easy to live in unfamiliar places; you can slip back into your culture and family just by clicking.

Pak Mahmud's family, Jeneponto, South Sulawesi

It got better - of course it did. I learned enough language to buy food and get directions, small essentials like that. Often I left the market without getting quite what I wanted. My coworkers were endless sources of help, and in that first volunteer contract I have no doubt that my value to them (regarding the work I was supposed to be supporting) was a fraction of their value to me, from helping with shopping to taking me along to family celebrations.

Ulysses, Sabangau forest

And I’ve fallen in love with the natural landscapes and have mind’s-eye pictures of beautiful places where the work has taken me…

In Maros province, South Sulawesi: the first trip up to Bengo-Bengo on winding roads through the Bantimurang Bulusurang National Park, an area of tall, straight up limestone hills, carpeted by huge trees and vines; the second largest karst ecosystem in the world. I took the trip almost weekly between the forest and Makassar on my motorbike, the best part of my job.

From Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo: Sitting on the narrow front porch of the field house in Sabangau Forest, with a morning cup of coffee watching Ulysses casually walk across the tops of trees less than 50 meters away. Great coffee, amazing view.

Comet moth, Ranomafana

Ranomafana National Park, eastern Madagascar: Back in hilly, forested terrain a 3-hour hike brings the opportunity to see four different species of lemur. Very cool, but what I found almost equally as fascinating was the ridiculous variety of insects - practically a new one everyday on my office door.

In South Sumatra, back in Indonesia: now the work starts to get serious - I had built up an appreciable amount of experience in tropical forests. While working this contract I saw a fair number of air-conditioned conference rooms in upscale hotels - surprisingly (ha!) all very similar. 

I’m seaside now, west coast of Madagascar, based in Toliara: If someone had given me the choice of the five contracts so far, I probably would have chosen to work in my current job over all the rest just because it’s centered around mangrove ecosystems which I’ve been interested in since a trip to Belize 10 years ago. But i’m really, really glad I didn’t get that option - seeing the diversity of the peat forest and karst forest in Indonesia and tall eastern rainforest in Madagascar just makes me want to go look at other parts of the world - see what else is out there. Although the mangroves are very cool, of course, and where there aren’t mangroves there are endless stretches of beach.

Colleagues from Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar

Five years isn’t all that long – I’m amazed at the number of people you can meet and the different places you can see in just that relatively short span of time. Now I’ve got so many moments that I can carry with me; singing really bad karaoke with Raymond in Mada, and Nova in Indo; playing incompetent games of pool with Joyo in Indo and Tim in Mada; enjoying a cold beer with Leslie in Indo & - well, pretty much everyone – in Mada; hiking with Nasri, Lalao, Ritha…. I could go on & every one of those moments makes me smile (or blush, occasionally).

Office workmates in Toliara, SW Madagascar

So what have I learned? I mean, really, the different food and housing and figuring out how to find a level of comfort in a discomforted state are all the superficial trappings of working abroad. At the heart of these experiences are the relationships you build with people who are accomodating you in their home country. Well, it certainly helps to be able to laugh at yourself, because I can’t help but look ridiculous just trying to buy bread or negotiating the fare with a pousse driver. 

Kirsten with Indonesian kids in Flores, June 2014

Patti supporting the home team
Andavaoake, Madagascar

I’ve learned that culture plays a huge role in shaping behaviour and even though you get to know people and the country, it takes a lot longer to understand how or why people behave unless you know and understand the environment in which they grew up. Which is really hard, because to identify the elements that go into shaping our attitudes, we’d have to recognize these as they were affecting us - from when we’re born. Maybe children raised by parents with roots in two (or more) cultures move more seamlessly in the global environment. The rest of us just have to stumble through with our one-dimensional backgrounds, bringing as open a mind as possible to try to see the world through other people’s eyes.

And while culture deeply shapes us, at the heart, people everywhere are basically the same. We like to laugh, play games, work hard, love our families, enjoy good food and delight in something new or surprising. From my point of view, that’s pretty much it.

 My current excellent colleague, Lalao

So, bring on the next 5 years, I can't wait to see where the road takes me!

Villages, coffee and mangroves

Off to work!

Mangroves occur in bays dotted all along the west coast of Madagascar, protecting thousands of hectares of shoreline that border the Mozambique Channel. Last month, Lalao and I conducted a needs assessment at another site in and around the town of Belo sur Mer, located about midway along the long edge of Madagascar. There are about 12 communities in the area; Blue Ventures is working with these to promote sustainable fisheries, develop alternative livelihoods and manage the mangrove forests. We visited 6 of these communities, and met with the village associations as the first step in developing our Blue Forests planning for the site.

The mangroves are extensive, largely intact and beautiful. 

Coffee and menakely for breakfast. Menakely (called boko boko in other places) is a lot like a donut, but not as sweet.

Accommodation in Belo sur Mer

Left: Village meetings have to wait until the fishing day is done. And sometimes we get participation from the local chickens. This was our first meeting of the field tour, in Antananamibo.


Below: Eloi, the boat captain spotting a safe route for the pirogue in shallow water.

Below: Coming back into Belo sur Mer, temporary shelters of migratory fishermen on a sandspit are backlit.

Left: Fran, a Blue Ventures aquaculture technician, checking out the drying seaweed. Local residents can make a decent living from seaweed farming. This is in the village of Menaky.

Typical, square-sailed pirogue used by fishermen all along the coast

Women use a paste made from pounded bark as a sunscreen and beauty product.

Breakfast at the local cafe

 I had the feeling someone was sneaking up on me....

.....and then I was swarmed.

Meeting with the village association in Belalanda - the community members have a high level of interest in actively managing mangroves, well aware that the health of fisheries is heavily dependent on intact coastal mangrove forests.

At the end of this day we jumped into small pirogues to ferry out to our motorized boat.

Right: Lalanda, a dune-stabilizing plant with long runners.

Left: Men use handtools to carve wooden pirogues.

Two uses of mangrove wood.


Right: A woman is repairing her fence made of mangrove poles.




Above: Bags of charcoal, ready for transport and sale.






Another local coffee shop; the owner on the left is making menakely (basically fried cassava doughballs) on the right two of her children are pounding cassava into flour.

















Below: The mangrove forest outside of Lovobe; some of the damage is from harvesting, but some of the mortality may have resulted from the effects of a cyclone that occurred 5 years ago, which may have changed tide levels along this part of the coast.

 

Left: The cyclone also destroyed the school in one village; the teacher holds classes outdoors.


Right: A convenience store sells packaged goods.

Below: Village women in Lovobe, the last stop on our field tour.

The man on the right is coaching the boy in the pirogue - a boating lesson in relatively light waves.

My excellent co-worker Lalao - needless to say I would be completely lost without her.

Sweet work!

When Carbon Sequestration = Village Schools

Mangroves = carbon = schools

By registering the Bay of Assassins mangrove forests as a Plan Vivo project, Blue Ventures, as the project manager, will be able to channel money to communities through the sale of certificates for carbon credits on the open market. The certifier - in this case Plan Vivo, although there are other carbon standards - ensures that these certificates are backed up verifiable trees just standing around in the forest, sequestering carbon. And if they’re mangrove forests, the trees, soil and roots together add up to an ecosystem that can hold more carbon than many other forest types.

A few potential beneficiaries of the project

However, the preparation and planning that goes into validation of the project - that is, ensuring that carbon credits sold as certificates can be traced back to their origin from sustainably managed forests, supported by biomass volume calculations - has an enormous amount of work going on behind the scenes.

The primary consideration is that the people in the communities are full participants in, and leaders of, the process. The Blue Forests team working in the area; Lalao, our project coordinator, Cicelin, Dolce and Aina, have visited and re-visited each of ten villages; to first conduct information sessions to assess interest and commitment on the part of the communities, then to systematically guide them through the process. I’ve joined the project close to the end of the many consultations, as we expect to be able to finish this stage by July.

Village consultation

The villagers have discussed and agreed upon zonation of protected areas (no harvest of trees at all), sustainable use areas and planned reforestation areas. (The goal is to plant 10 hectares of mangrove each year until the degraded forest is completely covered in mangrove again.) To ensure that no harvest occurs from protected areas and that cut quotas are respected in the sustainable use areas, communities have also agreed on local rules (Dina) and as a result, have also planned a system to enforce the rules. One of the major issues throwing a wrench into control of mangrove forests by communities is that outsiders often come into the area, cut trees and transport them away for sale of the wood or to make charcoal. Everyone has agreed that monthly or bi-monthly patrols are necessary - which means that locals must be recruited and trained to monitor the forests and report infractions to the village and district associations.

Dolce, leading the consultation
in the Ankitambagna school, on the list to be replaced

Discussions have been had around what to do with the money earned through sale of carbon credits, with most villagers approving the construction of new schools, or meeting halls, or markets. Actual earnings, spread out over 20 years of the project, probably won’t be enough to completely fund the infrastructure, but will buy materials, and it is expected that communities will provide the labour for construction. However, some villages will have to wait for their share, and another consultation will be held to agree on the priority sites and to create a schedule for each villages’ needs.

One of our coastal villages

The latest meetings were held over the last two weeks to discuss benefit sharing and to explain division of the funds that will be earned. A percentage each year is set aside for monitoring and protection of the forest, some portion will be remitted to the larger area association and national government and at least 50%, possibly more, will be available for community projects. Generally, interest in these consultations varies between villages, but the presidents of the communities attended a workshop before this round and they all clearly explain the issues that are being brought before the residents for consideration, and consensus is reached through open, and sometimes vigorous, discussion.

In the next 3 months, we have at least 3 more village tours on the calendar; for benefit sharing with the discussion on infrastructure priorities, consultations to design a grievance mechanism and final validation of the whole project by each community. The process requires continuous, dedicated effort on behalf of the Blue Forests team in the Southwest and so far, they’re advancing the ball steadily and surely - we’ll get there.  

The best part for me about this round of consultations? The commute - a sweet hour in a sailing pirogue to get to Lomboara on the last day before wrapping up the tour. 

Aina, one of the Blue Forests team members, 
at home on the pirogue

Obligatory (for me) baobab picture (expect more)

Blue Ventures / Blue Forests

Baobab in the southwest forest

Note: For those of you who read my blog (because I shamelessly email the link, maybe?), I know, it's been a while (15 months). Update: I spent 7 months of 2016 in Bogor, Indonesia but wasn't inspired to write a lot - I worked as deputy director for a landscape management project, about 3 steps of the ladder away from the actual landscape (i.e. in an air-conditioned at a desk behind a computer - highly reminiscent of my last Canadian job).
Casting around for the next job, I made the conscious decision to choose one that offered a technical field work aspect and have been incredibly lucky to land a position with Blue Ventures in Madagascar as their Blue Forests programme lead, advancing work to ensure sustainability in coastal mangroves. So here's how things are going.... 

Dry forest in southwest

Hotel in Befandefa, a village in Baie des Assassins

Village in southwest - note the fence; constructed from mangrove species

Village outreach, consulting on mangrove reforestation areas

Another source of income - seaweed cultivation

Village of Andavadoaka

So far, the first two months of my new job has involved a lot of traveling - Antananarivo, Toliara, Ambanja, Andavadoaka and surrounding villages, with possibly Mahajamba and Belo sur Mer lined up in the next month. All with the aim of familiarising myself with the several sites at which Blue Ventures operates. BV has been in Madagascar for over 10 years, primarily focused on improving fisheries sustainability in coastal communities. But, as with any environmental issue, it’s all connected, and for the last four years additional resources have been targeted towards management of bordering mangrove forests which have been depleted for building supplies and charcoal production. Mangroves, for my non-forestry readers, are multi-functional ecosystems, fringing ocean and riverine systems in the tropics and sub-tropics. They provide nurseries for small fish, crabs and shrimp, and protect coasts from wave-action erosion and more severe events like cyclones. There are 8 species of trees found in Malagasy mangrove forests; comparatively few compared to Indonesia, with about 35 different species; all fascinating plants which are able to grow with their roots in salty water. 

Shoreline in Andavadoaka, village where BV has an office

Tree nursery in southwest, Cordylla madagascarensis seedlings

Outplanted seedling, southwest

The Blue Forests program is centered around communities close to the coast, primarily dependent on fishing for their livelihoods, which either have tenure over the mangroves or have a path to tenure, and depend on them to provide building materials for houses, fences and boats. Tenure is key, because it allows communities to continue sustainable harvest from mangroves; in an attempt to stop people from outside the area cutting trees in the mangrove forests the Malagasy government has made harvesting mangrove trees illegal. 



Our role is to facilitate communities to build management plans that include provisions to set aside protected zones and areas for sustainable harvesting, to monitor natural regeneration and to hold planting events to reforest the most seriously degraded areas.  And, to relieve demand for wood, we’re also helping to establish alternative wood plantations outside the mangrove zone, planting species that can be used for charcoal production; another environmental issue that demands a broader solution. Most Malagasy use charcoal to cook, other forms of energy being unavailable, unreliable or too expensive for the average family. If there were significant investment in affordable green energy sources, the threat to mangroves would decrease accordingly. 

Tree nursery in northwest, Acacia seedlings

However, charcoal production is also an important source of income for many villagers, who are living close to the poverty line, many earning less than $2 USD a day.

Heading out to plant seedlings

Options? Northwest Madagascar is humid, warm and leafy, which offers the potential to grow fruit crops, cinnamon, and other plants to replace cash earned by charcoal, as well as to develop beekeeping, producing mangrove honey. In the extremely dry southwest, options are more limited, but BV is supporting a trial beekeeping operation and alternative fuel wood plantations, expanding the paths to increased income for families whose primary source of food and money is fishing.

Beehive

Village consultation for health programme

Along the trail to a village in the northwest

My brain is swimming with all sorts of new information after these first 2 months - I’m hoping to go back to my base in Toliara and process a lot of this before sorting out how I can be effective in the job. Not to mention several other items on the to-do list; improving my French, picking up more Malagasy, finding a place to live and figuring out how to shop the markets. If learning keeps you young, I’m quite the baby now.

Weekend trip to Nosy Be with Tim, Danny (in front), Nick (behind Danny) & Kate

More baobab (expect lots of these in photos - I love them!)