Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Didy and Ivondro wetlands are located 35 km south-east of Ambatondrazaka, with the villages of Manakambahiny and Sorantelo lying to the north, Ambodinonoka to the south, Didy to the east and Ambohimanjaka to the west. The site is composed of a large natural marsh linked to small lakes and pools, and of the Ivondro river. The marsh vegetation is dominated by sedges (Cyperaceae) and grasses (Gramineae) no more than 1 m high. Its water being acid, the marsh has relatively poor fish-stocks, and fishing is not a significant human activity there. The Ivondro river flows eastwards across the southern part of the site, towards Didy Forest (which lies south-east of the marsh and is a mid-altitude, dense, humid evergreen forest).
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. Sixteen species are known from the site, of which four are endemic to Madagascar.
Gallinago macrodactyla seems particularly common in the marsh. The Ivondro river is one of the few known breeding sites for
Anas melleri.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Threats to the site and adjacent areas include hunting, exploitation for firewood, slash-and-burn cultivation, and collection of leaves (from marsh vegetation) for basketwork.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Didy and Ivondro wetlands (Madagascar). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/didy-and-ivondro-wetlands-iba-madagascar on 23/11/2024.
