With a background in environmental law and policy, Andriamahefazafy has considerable on-the-ground fisheries experience thanks in part to her earlier work for Blue Ventures, where she advised on marine policy and marine protected areas in the
country and developed different fisheries policy documents in collaboration with the Ministry of fisheries. As such, she is ideally placed to provide support to IPNLF staff on issues related to practical interactions with fishery stakeholders.
After completing a degree in Public Law at the University of Antananarivo, Andriamahefazafy studied Environmental Law and Climate Change at Pace Law School in New York. In 2014, she completed an MPhil in Conservation Leadership at the University of Cambridge. She is now a researcher and teaching assistant in Political Ecology at the University of Lausanne’s Institute of Geography and Sustainability, investigating the link between small-scale and industrial tuna fisheries in terms of access to the resources, overfishing and regional collaboration between the West Indian Ocean countries. Her research allows her to be familiar with the fishers and the various stakeholders involved in tuna fisheries along with their different perspectives in the region.
Welcoming Andriamahefazafy to the Board of Trustees, John Burton, Chairman of IPNLF, says, “Mialy is a respected environmental policy specialist who has a strong track record of helping support coastal communities and fisheries resources, particularly in her native Madagascar and the Western Indian Ocean. Her background and experience in the field together with her empathy towards coastal communities make her an ideal addition to our board and the broader IPNLF team.”
On joining IPNLF’s board, Andriamahefazafy comments, “The work of IPNLF in supporting coastal states of the Indian Ocean is very interesting and timely. I am glad to be able to bring my views as a researcher and islander to help with unravelling the complexities of tuna fisheries and challenges faced by coastal states. I am really pleased to have been invited to work with the International Pole & Line Foundation and I look forward to contributing to its local engagement and marine conservation efforts.”
Andriamahefazafy takes up her place on IPNLF’s Board of Trustees with immediate effect.