Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
This large bay is located 95 km north of Mahajanga. The bay is shallow and is generally less than 5 m deep at low tide, although the main drainage channel at its mouth is 20–90 m deep at low tide. Five rivers flow into the bay: the Sofia and the Tsiribihina rivers in the north-east, the Mahajamba river in the centre, and the Andranoboka and Masokoenja rivers in the south-east. There are 47,500 ha of mangroves, located at the mouths of the five rivers and dominated by
Rhizophora and
Avicennia. Those located along the sea are well developed (8–10 m high) and show no signs of exploitation. Tongue-shaped mudflats, c.750 m long and 500 m wide, occur along the edge of the mangroves. Some small rocky islets are present in the channel. Parts of the bay shore are rocky, and inland there are more or less wooded hills.
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. Thirteen species are known from the site, of which one is endemic to Madagascar. The site holds the largest congregation of
Egretta dimorpha known.
Non-bird biodiversity: Lemur: Propithecus verreauxi coquereli (EN).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
One of the rocky islets is a sacred site to which access is forbidden, and is this protected against human disturbance.
Haliaeetus vociferoides and
Propithecus verreauxi coquereli are also protected by ‘fady’ (taboos). The colonies of breeding waterbirds are exploited by local people, especially the employees of an industrial aquaculture installation.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mahajamba Bay - Anjavavy Complex (Madagascar). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mahajamba-bay--anjavavy-complex-iba-madagascar on 23/11/2024.
