MG048
Betampona Strict Nature Reserve


Country/territory: Madagascar

IBA criteria met: A1, A2, A3 (1999)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here

Area: 2,916 hectares (29.16 km2)

Asity Madagascar
IBA conservation status
Year of assessment (most recent) State (condition) Pressure (threat) Response (action)
2017 good medium low
For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here


Site description (2001 baseline)
The site lies 35 km north-west of Toamasina and 4.5 km from Fontsimavo, being situated on a rocky foothill overlooking the coastal plain. It comprises a series of mountainous peaks with steep slopes. Small seasonal tributaries of the Ivoloina river cross the reserve, which is covered by low-altitude, dense, humid evergreen forest, typically with trees of Dalbergia, Ilex, Tambourissa and Canarium, and tree-ferns Cyathea. Screw-pines Pandanus, tree lianas and bamboo-lianas Nastus are abundant. Secondary woodlands and thickets (in degraded areas of forest) cover 30–35% of the site, and are dominated by fast-growing species such as traveller’s palm Ravenala, bushes of Solanum and Lantana, and wild ginger Aframomum.

Key biodiversity
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. Seventy-seven species are known from the site, of which 51 are endemic to Madagascar. Four of the species are confined mainly to the north-eastern forests of Madagascar: Coua serriana, Brachypteracias squamigera, Oriolia bernieri and Euryceros prevostii. All species of Coua characteristic of humid forest are present.

Non-bird biodiversity: Lemurs: Varecia variegata variegata (EN), Indri indri (EN), Propithecus diadema diadema (EN), Daubentonia madagascariensis (EN). Carnivore: Fossa fossana (VU).


Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Betampona Strict Nature Reserve (Madagascar). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/betampona-strict-nature-reserve-iba-madagascar on 23/12/2024.