Marine invertebrates produce a large number of unique and structurally diversified natural products which represent a major source of bioactive molecules, particularly for pharmaceuticals leads. Several thousands of novel marine natural products exhibiting a wide range of bioactivities such as anticancer, antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial properties are listed. Since the early 1990s, the Chemistry Laboratory of Natural Substances and Food Sciences (LCSNSA) has been trying to gain a foothold in this field of research. The laboratory which is located at Reunion Island is at a strategic location for the research of natural bioactive molecules. Indeed, with a series of islands scattered in the western Indian Ocean along the southeast coast of Africa, Reunion Island belongs to a global biodiversity hotspot. This poster will therefore provide an outline of the contribution made by the LCSNSA to marine natural products research in the west of Indian Ocean. Over the last fifteen years, our research programs were more precisely concentrated on marine invertebrates from Reunion Island, Mayotte and Madagascar. Among the numerous marine invertebrates encountered in these areas, sponges, ascidians and soft corals have predominated in all our collection expeditions and have therefore received special attention from our research group. More than eighty new compounds showing relevant bioactivity, were isolated. However, this research is still at the very beginning and there are numerous areas that have not been investigated by the LCSNSA, particularly in the microbial environment. Indeed, there is an increasing evidence that many metabolites, are not produced by the animals themselves but by associated bacterial symbionts. In the future, the expansion of our research to biotechnology will be one of our key strategic challenges.