Masoala National Park, in northeast

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 ...

, is the largest of the island's protected areas. Most of the park is situated in

Sava Region Sava is a Regions of Madagascar, region in northern Madagascar. Its capital is Sambava. Until 2009 Sava belonged to Antsiranana Province. The region is situated at the northern part of the east coast of Madagascar. It is bordered by the region Dian ...

and a part in

Analanjirofo Analanjirofo is a region in northeastern Madagascar. Until 2009 it was a part of Toamasina Province. It borders Sava Region to the north, Sofia Region to the west, Alaotra-Mangoro Region to the southwest and Atsinanana Region to the south. The c ...

. Created in 1997, the park protects 2,300 square kilometres of

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

and 100 square kilometres of marine parks. The Masoala Peninsula is exceptionally diverse due to its large size, and variety of habitats. Altogether, the park protects tropical rainforest, coastal forest, flooded forest,

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

, and

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

. Three marine parks protect

coral reefs A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. ...

and a dazzling array of marine life. Masoala park madagascar map

Climate

This is an exceptionally wet area of Madagascar. The driest part of the year is from September to December. As the park is accessible only by a three-hour boat journey, the cyclone season (January to March) is best avoided.

Flora and fauna

There are ten

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, ...

species, including the

red ruffed lemur The red ruffed lemur (''Varecia rubra'') is one of two species in the genus ''Varecia'', the ruffed lemurs; the other is the black-and-white ruffed lemur (''Varecia variegata''). Like all lemurs, it is native to Madagascar. It occurs only in the ...

, which is native to the peninsula. The island reserve of Nosy Mangabe is one of the best sites in Madagascar to try to glimpse the elusive nocturnal

aye-aye The aye-aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis'') is a long-fingered lemur, a Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar with rodent-like teeth that perpetually grow and a special thin middle finger that they can use to catch grubs ...

. Masoala harbors many other species, such as the Madagascar day gecko, leaf-tailed gecko,

chameleons Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colours, be ...

of all sizes, spectacular birds such as the

helmet vanga The helmet vanga (''Euryceros prevostii'') is a distinctive-looking bird of the vanga family, Vangidae, and is classified in its own genus, ''Euryceros''. It is mainly blue-black, with rufous wings and a huge arched blue bill. It is restricted to ...

, and rare species such as the

red owl The red owl (''Tyto soumagnei'') is an owl in the barn owl family Tytonidae. It is also known as the Madagascar red owl, Madagascar grass-owl, Soumagne's owl or lesser grass-owl. It is a rare resident of Madagascar that was virtually unknown from ...

and tomato frog. Masoala is also home to the day-flying sunset moth, '' Chrysiridia rhipheus''. The Madagascar serpent-eagle was recently rediscovered here, and exists in healthy populations only in this part of northeast Madagascar. The tree '' Ephippiandra masoalensis'' is endemic to the park.Rabarimanarivo, M. 2020. ''Ephippiandra masoalensis''.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological spe ...

2020: e.T137673521A137901533. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T137673521A137901533.en. Accessed 16 September 2022. Three marine parks are included in the Masoala National Park: Tampolo in the West, Ambodilaitry in the South, and Ifaho in the East. These are among the most diverse marine environments in Madagascar and are superb destinations for

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

and

snorkeling Snorkeling (American and British English spelling differences#Doubled in British English, British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of human swimming, swimming face down on or through a body of water while breathing ...

. Each year from July to early September, hundreds of

humpback whales The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh u ...

visit the

Antongil Bay ''Helodranon' Antongila'' (Bay of Antongila), more commonly called Antongil Bay in English, is the largest bay in Madagascar. This bay is on the island's east coast, toward the northern end of the eastern coastline of the island. It is within A ...

during their long migration. The warm protected waters of the bay provide an ideal breeding and calving ground for these marine mammals.

Conservation and threats

In June 2007, Masoala was designated as a

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 ...

as part of a cluster of parks, known collectively as Rainforests of the Atsinanana, that represent the biodiversity of the country's eastern rainforests. The other national parks included are

Marojejy Marojejy National Park () is a national park in the Sava region of northeastern Madagascar. It covers and is centered on the Marojejy Massif, a mountain chain that rises to an elevation of . Access to the area around the massif was restricted t ...

, Zahamena, Ranomafana, Andringitra, and Andohahela. During 2009 and 2010, the national park was invaded by thousands of illegal loggers searching for rosewood.

References

External links

Masoala National Park
official site * Human Rights Issues, se
www.humanrightsmasoala.org
{{Authority control National parks of Madagascar Sava Region Analanjirofo Protected areas established in 1997 1997 establishments in Madagascar Madagascar lowland forests Important Bird Areas of Madagascar

Climate

Flora and fauna

Conservation and threats

See also

References

External links