Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Located in the north-west of Madagascar, this site is composed of a group of islands and islets. Nosy Be is the largest island off the coast of Madagascar (c.25,200 ha). It is mountainous, rising to 430 m in the south-east. Its eastern coast is mainly occupied by agriculture, notably sugar-cane. Dense, humid evergreen forest remains more or less intact in the centre of the island and also in Lokobe Strict Nature Reserve in the south-east. Several small islands and islets surround Nosy Be. Nosy Komba (2,200 ha) lies c.3 km south-east of Nosy Be. It is pyramidal, with a peak 579 m high, and is covered by dense, humid evergreen forest. There are a few small fishing villages. Nosy Sakatia (500 ha), located west of Nosy Be, is also covered by dense, humid evergreen forest. It is mountainous (up to 137 m high). Nosy Tanikely (c.30 ha) is an islet with cliffs in the north and west, and sandy beaches in the south and east. It is a marine reserve, surrounded by beautiful coral reefs. Its central plateau is covered by dense, humid evergreen forest. Nosy Raty (c.30 ha) is a small basaltic islet, covered by savanna with some woody species. Nosy Fanihy (25 ha) is a raised reef (several tens of metres above sea-level) north of Nosy Be, covered in woodland (10–15 m) with lianas. The understorey is open and easy to access, despite the presence of spiny shrubs. At low tide, the beach in the south-east of the island is exposed. Thirty kilometres south-west of Nosy Be, near the Ampasindava peninsula, there is a group of small islets and rocks: Nosy Kivongy, Nosy Antsoha and Nosy Ankazoberavina (each less than 50 ha in area).
See Box and Table 3 for key species. Four pairs of
Haliaeetus vociferoides breed on the satellite islands of Nosy Be (Nosy Antsoha, Nosy Ankazoberavina, Nosy Vorona and Nosy Fanihy) and at least one pair breeds on Nosy Be. A few dozen pairs of
Sula leucogaster breed on Nosy Kasinjy. Nosy Raty holds five breeding pairs of
Egretta dimorpha.
Non-bird biodiversity: Lemurs: Eulemur macaco macaco (VU), Lepilemur dorsalis (VU).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Lokobe Strict Nature Reserve is located on Nosy Be. The most important areas of the site are protected by their difficulty of access. Only Nosy Be, Nosy Komba and Nosy Tanikely are inhabited permanently, but only one family resides on Nosy Tanikely. Nosy Vorona is a sacred islet protected by taboos. Nosy Fanihy and Nosy Sakatia are the only accessible islets. Nosy Be is the main touristic centre in Madagascar. Several hotels and tour-operators organize visits to the islets, especially Nosy Komba, Nosy Tanikely and Nosy Sakatia, for their coral reefs and sandy beaches. Nosy Komba is home to a population of the lemur
Eulemur macaco macaco which has become accustomed to tourists. These visits do not directly threaten the breeding
Haliaeetus vociferoides (although they do threaten the coral reefs), but the activities of the numerous boats may disturb the species.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Nosy Tanihely National Park (Madagascar). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/nosy-tanihely-national-park-iba-madagascar on 23/11/2024.
