Benara, or Mlima Bénara, is the highest peak of
Grande-Terre
Grande-Terre Island (french: île de Grande-Terre / île de la Grande-Terre; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwantè) is the name of the eastern-half of Guadeloupe proper, in the Lesser Antilles. It is separated from the other half of Guadeloupe ...
,
Mayotte
Mayotte (; french: Mayotte, ; Shimaore language, Shimaore: ''Maore'', ; Bushi language, Kibushi: ''Maori'', ), officially the Department of Mayotte (french: Département de Mayotte), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regi ...
, an
overseas collectivity
The French overseas collectivities ('' collectivité d'outre-mer'' or ''COM'') are first-order administrative divisions of France, like the French regions, but have a semi-autonomous status. The COMs include some former French overseas colon ...
of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
in the western
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
, with a height of .
Description
Benara forms part of the
massif
In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...
that dominates south-central Mayotte. The upper slopes of the mountain rise steeply to a triangular peak. Ridges extend 4 km west to the subordinate peaks of Tchaourembo (581 m), Ngouni Maboungani (510 m), and 4 km east to Trambatsini (297 m). The area down to an elevation of about 200 m, which is typically the upper limit of
cultivation on the island, contains what is probably the second largest expanse of forest on Mayotte. It has been identified as an
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
(IBA) by
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
because it supports populations of
Comoro olive-pigeons,
Comoro blue-pigeons,
Mayotte drongos,
Mayotte white-eye
The Mayotte white-eye or chestnut-sided white-eye (''Zosterops mayottensis'') is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is now found only on Mayotte in the Comoro Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, su ...
s and
Mayotte sunbirds. It is also home to
Robert Mertens's day geckos,
island day geckos and
Pasteur's day geckos.
References
External links
*
Benara
Benara, or Mlima Bénara, is the highest peak of Grande-Terre, Mayotte, an overseas collectivity of France in the western Indian Ocean, with a height of .
Description
Benara forms part of the massif that dominates south-central Mayotte. The upp ...
Important Bird Areas of Mayotte
{{mayotte-geo-stub