The Barren Isles are located off the coast of Maintirano, in the Melaky Region, on the west coast of Madagascar. This MPA (4,300 km²) is co-managed by the small-scale fishers association called Vezo Miray Nosy Barren.

The right conditions are found here for the development of seagrass beds, home to, among others, needlefish harvested by small-scale fishers during bad weather.

The preservation of this habitat required the delineation of the management areas involving active community participation. Participatory mapping revealed a seagrass area of about 600 hectares. Data feedback on the extent of seagrass beds coupled with education sessions on the ecological services of the seagrass beds were explained to the communities to raise their awareness.

Monitoring was carried out by the communities adopting the seagrass watch approach to assess the seagrass beds and introduce the communities to the monitoring technique. A data feedback session was conducted with the community members to engage discussions around management measures.