Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
This vast complex of wetlands lies on the flood-plain of the Bemarivo river, and includes water-bodies near Mahajamba (Lakes Andranolava, Mafana and Faly, and the Bekapila flood-plain), water-bodies near Port-Bergé (Lakes Besisika, Matsaborifanjava, Ampahaka and Ampombitika-Bezanadaoka—the only large and deep lake—and the Sofia river), and Lake Bekatra near Antsohihy. Lake-margin vegetation includes beds of
Cyperus and reed
Phragmites. Agriculture predominates in between the wetlands, particularly rice-fields, but there are also areas of dense, dry deciduous forest, savanna (sometimes with palms
Bismarckia), and areas dominated by the non-native bush
Mimosa pudica.
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. Sixty-eight species are known from the site, of which 14 are endemic to Madagascar. A nesting colony of
Mycteria ibis is known from the region, and other species such as
Ardea humbloti may nest locally.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Wild duck, e.g.
Dendrocygna viduata and
D. bicolor, are regularly hunted. The conversion of lake-margins to rice-fields also constitutes a threat.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Port-Bergé Wetlands NPA and extension (Madagascar). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/port-bergé-wetlands-npa-and-extension-iba-madagascar on 23/11/2024.
