Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Including forest as well as wetlands, the 12,000ha reserve is also famous for its golden
mantella frogs (easily seen) and a recently discovered population of rare greater bamboo
lemurs. It's an excellent area for trekking and has five bungalows. Enquire at Mitsinjo to
organise a visit.
MAROMIZAHARESERVE
(
m
0330256818;
e
gerp@moov.mg
)
Inthe 1990sthis for-
ested but unprotected area provided some excellent hiking, distant lemur viewing, and an
impressive variety of weevils, some wearing little yellow tutus. Then the loggers arrived,
and in a few years there was nothing to see except cleared hillsides. Now Maromizaha is
being rehabilitated as a protected area under the management of GERP (Groupe d'Etude et
de Recherche sur les Primates de Madagascar). It is still a beautiful walk and the sound of
the chainsaws has been silenced.
ThewildlifeissimilartothatfoundatMantadia.Thereisacavefulloffruitbatsandbot-
anists will be interested to see the locally endemic
marola
palm. Enquire at the Andasibe
park office.
MITSINJO AND THE ANDASIBE FOREST CORRIDOR PROJECT
Rainer Dolch, Coordinator, Association Mitsinjo
Over the last hundred years or so, population growth and poverty have taken their toll
on Madagascar's eastern rainforest belt. The increasing need for timber, charcoal and
new agricultural land has led to extensive deforestation. This loss of trees contributes
togreenhousegasemissionsandclimatechange(bothlocalandglobal),whichfurther
exacerbates poverty and environmental degradation in a downward spiral.
OneofthelargerremainingforestsisAnkeniheny-Zahamena,whichissoontogain
protected status. But even this has become severely fragmented, especially around the
village of Andasibe. Forest fragmentation spells disaster because numerous isolated
patches of forest cannot support the same diversity of species as a single larger one.
When an area of forest gets cut off, the wildlife it contains risks becoming inbred and
these small populations are less able to recover from problems such as outbreaks of
disease and cyclones. Extinctions are inevitable.
The Andasibe Forest Restoration Project (better known by its Malagasy acronym
TAMS) aims to halt deforestation in the region by restoring 3,000ha of rainforest,
reconnecting fragments with forest 'corridors' and improving livelihoods for local
people.AssociationMitsinjo,aMalagasyNGOthatitselfevolvedoutofacommunity
project, has been a driving force in this innovative programme, in partnership with in-
ternationalandnationalNGOs,aswellasgovernmentagencies.Intotal,morethan25
nurseriesgrowsome500,000seedlingsof150mostlyendemictreeseachyear.Bythe
end of the project more than 3 million trees will have been planted.