Data Zone
Country/territory: Madagascar
IBA criteria met: A1, A2, A3, A4i (1999)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 23,328 hectares (233.28 km2)
Site description (2001 baseline)
These coastal wetlands are located 50 km south-west of Ampanihy. The site includes Nosy Manitse, located 10 km off Bevoalavo, as well as a large strip of forest (35–40 km long and 130–200 m wide) between Bevoalavo West and Bezavo, Anataiky Bay, Cape Fenambosy and Androkahely Bay. The wetlands are composed of reddish-brown sandbanks extending along the coast. Androkahely Bay comprises a vast sandy area covered by muddy sediments from the River Linta. The wetlands of Cape Fenambosy and Anataiky Bay are brackish. The interior of Anataiky Bay is bordered by a muddy area, partly covered by savanna and partly by mangrove.
Key biodiversity
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. Thirty-eight species are known from this site, of which four are endemic to Madagascar. There are many Sterna bengalensis and Sterna bergii. In the 1940s, a colony of more than 4,000 pairs of Sterna dougallii was present on Nosy Manitse. The current status of this colony is not known. Threskiornis (aethiopicus) bernieri occurs, at the southern limit of its range, as does a significant population of Charadrius thoracicus.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Nosy Manitse Future SAPM Marine and surrounding wetlands (Madagascar). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/nosy-manitse-future-sapm-marine-and-surrounding-wetlands-iba-madagascar on 23/12/2024.