Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Situated in mountains to the north of La Réunion, the site is a plain sloping from the northern rim of the Cirque de Mafate northwards towards the town of Saint-Denis. A deep gorge formed by the Rivière Saint-Denis cuts into this plain, separating the Plaine des Chicots in the east from the Plaine d’Affouches in the west. The lower half (1,000–1,550 m) is covered by mixed montane forest, which is gradually replaced at higher altitude by forest dominated by the endemic
Acacia heterophylla (‘tamarin des hauts’). Above 1,600 m, montane shrubland or bushland and thicket dominates, becoming very sparse near the summit of La Roche Ecrite (2,277 m). The trail across the Plaine des Chicots to La Roche Ecrite is much used for recreation. For many years the site has been stocked with exotic deer
Cervus timorensis for hunting, and lower parts abutting the site (to the south) used for plantations of the exotic conifer
Cryptomeria japonica.
See Box and Table 2 for key species. The site is the only breeding area for
Coracina newtoni (entire known population, 120–150 pairs) and supports populations of all the other native, forest-living birds of La Réunion, together with important colonies of
Puffinus lherminieri. Up to five pairs of
Circus maillardi were present in 1998.
Non-bird biodiversity: Endemic plant communities: rich forest with many endemic plants. Lepidoptera: several endemic moth species. Reptiles: Phelsuma borbonica (endemic).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Alongside the ubiquitous threats associated with fire and exotic plant and animal species invasion, current threats of particular importance at this site are ‘traditional’ liming of forest passerines, and destruction of undergrowth (including native seedlings) by
Cervus timorensis. The whole site was classified as a Nature Reserve in December 1999, and a management plan is being developed under the auspices of the ONF and Direction Régionale de l’Environnement de la Réunion. This will largely remove the threat from poaching, allow reduction in
Cervus timorensis numbers, and provide for continuing monitoring (in progress since 1993) of the
Coracina newtoni population.
Cryptomeria has not been planted since the early 1980s and no further planting is planned.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Plaine des Chicots - Plaine d'Affouches (Réunion (to France)). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/plaine-des-chicots--plaine-daffouches-iba-réunion-(to-france) on 23/12/2024.
