Bemarivo Reserve is a

wildlife reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

in the north-west of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. It was created in 1956 and covers an area of . The reserve is known for its fauna especially

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

birds.

Geography

The reserve is located on a coastal

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

in the region of

Melaky Melaky is a region in northwestern Madagascar. It borders Boeny Region in northeast, Betsiboka in east, Bongolava in southeast and Menabe in south. The capital of the region is Maintirano. The population was estimated to be 309,805 in 2018 within ...

, about from the town and commune of

Besalampy Besalampy is a rural municipality on the west coast of Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Besalampy, which is a part of Melaky Region. The population of the municipality was 11331 in 2018. Besalampy is served by a local Besalampy Airpo ...

, and from the

Mozambique Channel The Mozambique Channel (french: Canal du Mozambique, mg, Lakandranon'i Mozambika, pt, Canal de Moçambique) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about lon ...

coast. It has a warm climate with an average daily temperature of and the rainy season is from November to February with an annual rainfall of approximately . The Bemarivo River is a tributary of the

Sofia River The Sofia is a river of northwestern Madagascar. It flows through the Sofia Region. The source is at the Tsaratanana Massif at an altitude of 1784 metres. It has a length of . Its mouth is in the Indian Ocean in the Boriziny-Vaovao District Bori ...

and flows permanently during the dry season unlike the small tributaries of the Marotondro and Ampandra Rivers which are seasonal. The main vegetation is dense, dry deciduous forest, dominated by trees of '' Cordyla'', ''

Dalbergia ''Dalbergia'' is a large genus of small to medium-size trees, shrubs and lianas in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Dalbergia'' clade (or tribe): the Dalbergieae. ...

'', ''

Diospyros ''Diospyros'' is a genus of over 700 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. The majority are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate regions. Individual species valued for their hard, heavy, dark tim ...

'', ''

Eugenia ''Eugenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It has a worldwide, although highly uneven, distribution in tropical and subtropical regions. The bulk of the approximately 1,100 species occur in the New World tropics, ...

'', ''

Grewia ''Grewia'' is a large flowering plant genus in the mallow family Malvaceae, in the expanded sense as proposed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. Formerly, Grewia was placed in either the family Tiliaceae or the Sparrmanniaceae. However, these ...

'', '' Cryptocarya agathophylla'' and ''

Sideroxylon ''Sideroxylon'' is a genus of trees in the family Sapotaceae described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753. They are collectively known as bully trees. The generic name is derived from the Greek words σιδηρος (''sideros''), meaning "iron", and ...

'' species. Outside the forest, there is secondary

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

with '' Bismarckia'' palms, and Tsimanjonotsy and Ranovoribe lakes and marshes. The

Sakalava The Sakalava are an ethnic group of Madagascar. They are found on the western and northwest region of the island, in a band along the coast. The Sakalava are one of the smaller ethnic groups, constituting about 6.2 percent of the total populatio ...

are the dominant ethnic group.

Flora and fauna

The reserve has an impressive number of endemic birds with over twenty-three recorded. Altogether there are seventy-three species of birds, twenty species of reptiles and fifteen species of mammals (including six species of

lemur Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are wet-nosed primates of the superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are endemic to the island of Madagas ...

s) are known in this reserve, as well as twenty-four species of reptiles and 194 species of plants. The wetlands are the biggest attraction for birds which include the Madagascar fish eagle (''Haliaeetus vociferoides'') which is critically endangered and

Bernier's teal Bernier's teal (''Anas bernieri''), also known as the Madagascar teal, is a species of duck in the genus ''Anas''. It is endemic to Madagascar, where it is found only along the west coast. Part of the "grey teal" complex found throughout Australa ...

(''Anas bernieri'') which is listed as

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

(IUCN). Reptiles found in the reserve include the

Nile crocodile The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern, ...

(''Crocodylus niloticus'') and the

Madagascar Ground Boa ''Acrantophis madagascariensis'' is a species of boid snake in the subfamily Sanziniinae that is endemic to the island of Madagascar. Its common names include Malagasy ground boa and Madagascar boa. Description This species is included in the ...

(''Acrantophis madagascariensis'').

Slash-and-burn agriculture Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...

is the main threat in the reserve along with fires.

References

External links

Madagascar National Parks
{{authority control 1956 establishments in Madagascar Melaky Special reserves of Madagascar Protected areas established in 1956 Madagascar dry deciduous forests Important Bird Areas of Madagascar

Geography

Flora and fauna

See also

References

External links