The Andohahela National Park is situated in

Anosy Anosy is one of the 23 regions of Madagascar. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the eastern side of what was once the Toliara Province. The name ''Anosy'' means "island(s)" in Malagasy. Due to a strategic sea route running alon ...

in the south-east of

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. It is remarkable for the extremes of habitats that are represented within it. The park covers of the Anosy mountain range, the southernmost spur of the Malagasy Highlands and contains the last humid rainforests in the southern part of Madagascar. The park was inscribed in the

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 2007 as part of the

Rainforests of the Atsinanana The Rainforests of the Atsinanana is a World Heritage Site that was inscribed in 2007 and consists of 13 specific areas in six national parks in the eastern part of Madagascar: # Marojejy National Park # Masoala National Park # Zahamena National ...

Access

This park can be accessed by the unpaved Provincial road RIP118PROJET DE REHABILITATION DE LA RIP 118
/ref> from

Soanierana Soanierana Ivongo is a rural municipality in Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Soanierana Ivongo, which is a part of Analanjirofo Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 26,990 in 2018. Soanierana Ivongo ...

History

Andohahela has been a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

since 1939 but did not become a national park until 1998.

Geography

Andohahela National Park is north-west of Fort-Dauphin and at the southern end of the Malagasy Highlands. The park is divided into three zones. The first, Malio, ranges from to the summit of Pic d' Andohahela at , and has dense

lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of a ...

and

montane rainforest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

with more than two hundred species of

tree ferns Tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tree fern ...

, orchids, wild vanilla, lemurs and many birds. The second, Ihazofotsy-Mangatsiaka, contains dry spiny forest with rare birds and reptiles in altitudes ranging from to at the summit of Pic de Vohidagoro. The third zone, Tsimelahy, is mainly at an altitude of and contains the unique Ranopiso transitional forest. The mountains form a natural barrier to the moist

trade wind The trade winds or easterlies are permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere, ...

s that blow from the east, causing on the eastern side a rainfall of per year that supports one of the few rainforests south of the

Tropic of Capricorn The Tropic of Capricorn (or the Southern Tropic) is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point at the December (or southern) solstice. It is thus the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. It also reach ...

. At the western edge of the park, the rainfall is just per year and the resulting vegetation is a dry spiny forest characteristic of southern Madagascar. Several circuits within each of the habitat types of the park can be accessed by road from the town of Fort-Dauphin.

Flora and fauna

The variety of habitats within Andohahela is mirrored in the richness of species that are found there, and the park is the richest place in Madagascar for

lemur Lemurs ( ; from Latin ) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea ( ), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are Endemism, ...

s. Fifteen species have been recorded, including two of Madagascar's most emblematic species, the

ring-tailed lemur The ring-tailed lemur (''Lemur catta'') is a medium- to larger-sized strepsirrhine (wet-nosed) primate and the most internationally recognized lemur species, owing to its long, black-and-white, ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of fiv ...

and

Verreaux's sifaka Verreaux's sifaka (''Propithecus verreauxi''), or the white sifaka, is a medium-sized primate in one of the lemur families, the Indriidae. Critically Endangered, it lives in Madagascar and can be found in a variety of habitats from rainforest to ...

. Some rare species of

geckos Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates. They range from . Geckos are unique among lizards f ...

, turtles and snakes are among the 67 species of reptiles found in the park, 130 species of birds and fifty species of amphibians. The Triangle palm is found only here.

References

External links

Official website (in French)
{{authority control Anosy 1998 establishments in Madagascar National parks of Madagascar Protected areas established in 1998 World Heritage Sites in Madagascar Madagascar subhumid forests Madagascar lowland forests Madagascar spiny thickets Important Bird Areas of Madagascar