In recent years, there has been a global call to incorporate social science into coastal management. This has been supported by institutional and policy commitments to develop socioeconomic monitoring as a priority activity within marine conservation initiatives. In response to this, and with financial and technical support from Coral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean (CORDIO), a long-term socioeconomic monitoring programme was implemented around the village of Andavadoaka, southwest Madagascar. The programme has been developed using the Socioeconomic Monitoring Guidelines for Coastal Managers of the Western Indian Ocean (SocMon WIO), in conjunction with the development of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) that incorporates representative areas of all local marine habitats.