Maningoza Special 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 ...

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 to protect the many

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 ...

plants and animals, and it also contains some of the last remaining areas of

dry deciduous forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

on the island.

Geography

The Maningoza Special Reserve was established in 1956 and is in the

Melaky Region 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 t ...

of Madagascar. The reserve is to the east of

Antsalova Antsalova is a town and commune ( mg, kaominina) in western Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Antsalova, which is a part of Melaky Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 58,280 in 2018. Antsalova is ser ...

and the nearest hotel accommodation is in

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 ...

. It can be reached by boat on the

Manambolo River ''For the rural municipality, see Manambolo (disambiguation)'' The Manambolo River is a river in the highlands of western Madagascar of 370 km. It crosses the Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve and the Maningoza Reserve. The unpaved ...

although the reserve is only accessible to tourists during the dry season. It contains one of the last remaining areas of dry tropical forest on the island and has a dry climate with an average temperature of . The annual rainfall is and mostly falls during the monsoon season which is between November and April. The forest grows on iron-rich (or ferralitic) soil which forms due to the

chemical weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with water, atmospheric gases, and biological organisms. Weathering occurs ''in situ'' (on site, with little or no movement ...

of most of the minerals; except for

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...

. There is an accumulation of secondary minerals and clays such as gibbiste,

goethite Goethite (, ) is a mineral of the diaspore group, consisting of iron(III) oxide-hydroxide, specifically the "α" polymorph. It is found in soil and other low-temperature environments such as sediment. Goethite has been well known since ancient t ...

and kaolinite, and an accumulation of humus. The people living in the villages around the reserve, are dependent for its resources and use the land for grazing

zebu The zebu (; ''Bos indicus'' or ''Bos taurus indicus''), sometimes known in the plural as indicine cattle or humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of domestic cattle originating in the Indian sub-continent. Zebu are characterised by a fatty h ...

, and grow

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...

, maize and rice.

Flora and fauna

The largest habitat, within the reserve is is subtropical

moist forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

which is some of the last remaining in Madagascar. There is also over of

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 ...

including a small area with palm trees and of

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

. The birds are poorly studied with fifty-two species recorded including twenty-five endemics. A number are of conservation concern, such as

Schlegel's asity Schlegel's asity (''Philepitta schlegeli'') is a species of bird in the family Philepittidae. It is Endemism, endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. It i ...

''(Philepitta schlegeli)'' which is classified 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) as

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...

due to habitat loss. Other resident birds include the

giant coua The giant coua (''Coua gigas'') is a bird species from the coua genus in the cuckoo family that is endemic to the dry forests of western and southern Madagascar. It is suggested that couas probably originated from a particular Asian ground-cucko ...

(''Coua gigas''),

Coquerel's coua Coquerel's coua (''Coua coquereli'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It was named in 1867 by the French naturalist Alfred Grandidier in honor of ...

(''Coua coquereli''),

sickle-billed vanga The sickle-billed vanga (''Falculea palliata'') is a species of bird in the vanga family Vangidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Falculea''. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are tropical dry forests and tropical dry sh ...

(''Falculea palliata'') and the Sakalava weaver (''Ploceus sakalava''). Of the fifteen species of mammal on the reserve, five are

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. Verreaux's sifaka (''Propithecus verreauxi'') is of most concern to the IUCN which is considered to be

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 ...

, and the

common brown lemur The common brown lemur (''Eulemur fulvus'') is a species of lemur in the family Lemuridae. It is found in Madagascar and has been introduced to Mayotte. Taxonomy Five additional currently recognized species of lemur were until 2001 considered ...

(''Eulemur fulvus'') which is

. The other lemurs are, the

eastern lesser bamboo lemur The eastern lesser bamboo lemur (''Hapalemur griseus''), also known as the gray bamboo lemur, the gray gentle lemur, and the Mahajanga lemur is a small lemur endemic to Madagascar, with three known subspecies. As its name suggests, the eastern le ...

(''Hapalemur griseus''),

gray mouse lemur The gray mouse lemur (''Microcebus murinus''), grey mouse lemur or lesser mouse lemur, is a small lemur, a type of strepsirrhine primate, found only on the island of Madagascar. Weighing , it is the largest of the mouse lemurs (genus ''Micro ...

(''Microcebus murinus'') and the

fat-tailed dwarf lemur The fat-tailed dwarf lemur (''Cheirogaleus medius''), also known as the lesser dwarf lemur, western fat-tailed dwarf lemur, or spiny forest dwarf lemur, is endemic to Madagascar. Hibernation Recent research has shown that ''C. medius'' hibernat ...

(''Cheirogaleus medius''). It is crossed by the

References

External links

Madagascar National Parks
{{authority control Melaky 1956 establishments in Madagascar 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