Data Zone
Country/territory: Madagascar
IBA criteria met: A1, A2, A3 (1999)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 2,916 ha
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2017 | favourable | 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 23/11/2024.