Sainte Luce Reserve is a

nature 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 o ...

in south-east

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 Afric ...

and part of one of the last remaining intact coastal

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

s in the country. The reserve is private, and has been managed by the Filana Association since 2010. It forms part of the greater Sainte Luce rainforest, which is approximately 15 km long and varies from 100m to 700m wide. The reserve itself is approximately 1 km long and averages 300m across.

Flora and fauna

The reserve is within a ''

Pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with some 750 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. The greatest number of species are found in Madagascar and Malaysia. Common name ...

'' dominated coastal rainforest which is home to a fascinating variety of plant and animal species. The reserve includes enclaves of rare ebony (''

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 ...

'') forest growing on white sand, and river

mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in sever ...

. There are five species of lemur, including the Collared brown lemur (''Eulemur collaris'') which was first sighted at the reserve in 1990 and can only be found in this area of Madagascar. The reserve is also home to the Sainte Luce mouse lemur (''Microcebus saintelucei''). However, because the Sainte Luce Reserve forest is separated from the other Sainte Luce forests by rivers, there is a current belief that the mouse lemur here is an entirely new, as yet unclassified, species. The other nocturnal lemurs that reside in the reserve include 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''), and

Southern woolly lemur The southern woolly lemur (''Avahi meridionalis''), or southern avahi, has been recently recognized as a separate species of woolly lemur in 2006 by Zaramody ''et al.'' It is a nocturnal and pair-living species. Groups can range from 2 (the paren ...

(''Avahi meridionalis''). There are also at least 50 species of reptile, 50 bird species and 200 tree species, the majority of which are endemic. There is also a huge diversity of land snails, 98% of which are endemic to Madagascar.** The reserve is also one of only four locations in

to be home to the endangered palm tree '' Dypsis saintelucei'', of which only 300 mature individuals remain. The palm has been felled for materials to construct lobster traps to supply the nearby hotels, and also lies in the habitat where

ilmenite Ilmenite is a titanium-iron oxide mineral with the idealized formula . It is a weakly magnetic black or steel-gray solid. Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printing ...

ore mining is taking place.

Threats to the rainforest

The littoral rainforests in this region are threatened by

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

and shifting agricultural practices (

slash and burn 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 ...

farming, known as tavy). in ''Diversité et endémisme à Madagascar'' The forests around

Tolagnaro Fort-Dauphin (Malagasy Tolagnaro or Taolagnaro) is a city (''commune urbaine'') on the southeast coast of Madagascar. It is the capital of the Anosy Region and of the Taolagnaro District. It has been a port of local importance since the early 1500 ...

have also come under threat as a result of mining for titanium-rich sands. Vincelette et al (2003) state that this is of particular concern because the unique habitat here is known to contain rare genera and species endemic to this region of Madagascar alone. Sainte Luce Reserve is a member of The Lemur Conservation Network, an organisation which works to save Madagascar's lemurs from extinction.

Conservation

The idyllic location and abundant wildlife makes the reserve one of the key places to volunteer in Madagascar. The reserve is a small non profit organisation, and relies on volunteers to help accomplish important conservation projects. Volunteers assist with lemur research,

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhe ...

monitoring, seed collecting, tree planting and community outreach.

References

;Footnotes ;Sources * Goodman, S.M. And Benstead, J.P (2007) The Natural History of Madagascar.

External links

* *{{cite web, url=http://www.lemurconservationnetwork.org, publisher=lemurconservationnetwork.org, title=Home - Lemur Conservation Network, accessdate=2017-02-27 Nature conservation in Madagascar Protected areas of Madagascar Forests of Madagascar Madagascar lowland forests Anosy