Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Upper Rantabe Classified Forest is located 90 km south-west of Maroantsetra. The terrain is a succession of mountains and valleys. The Vohilava river flows through the site, as do many permanent or seasonal streams. The vegetation is composed of intact and degraded low-altitude, dense, humid evergreen forest. The canopy layer of intact forest is composed of spur- and stilt-root trees 20–25 m high, dominated by
Dalbergia and
Tambourissa, while the mid-stratum is dominated by shrubs and abundant tree-ferns
Cyathea, and the ground layer is formed of small plants and grasses. Secondary thickets in degraded forest are composed mainly of
Solanum and
Lantana bushes, and wild ginger
Aframomum.
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. Eighty-two species are known from the site, of which 52 are endemic to Madagascar. All species of the Vangidae family characteristic of wet forests, and species characteristic of low-altitude forests, such as
Newtonia fanovanae and
Brachypteracias squamigera, are present at the site.
Non-bird biodiversity: Lemurs: Varecia variegata (EN), Indri indri (EN). Carnivore: Fossa fossana (EN).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The site is threatened by forest clearance, hunting, exploitation for wood, and gem-mining.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Upper Rantabe Classified Forest (Madagascar). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/upper-rantabe-classified-forest-iba-madagascar on 23/12/2024.
