'A remote, high-altitude rainforest in Madagascar that has never been surveyed?’ I repeatedJohn’s words back through the Skype channel like an echo. ‘That sounds too good to be true!’ But true it was. In northern Madagascar, there is an isolated section of rainforest that has recently been declared a protected area and was yet to be explored in any detail by scientists – surely the holy grail for any conservation biologist!
When John Mittermeier and I met at the International Congress for Conservation Biology in France in 2015, we were drawn together by a shared passion for birds and adventure and immediately began plotting an expedition to a far-flung place. John had previously worked with Dr. Lily-Arison Rene de Roland (or Lily, as he is known) of The Peregrine Fund’s Madagascar Project. On a recent trip to visit the site of the rediscovery of the Madagascar Pochard, Lily told him about the Mahimborondro protected area and mentioned that as far as he knew, there had been no detailed scientific exploration of the rainforest.
The Mahimborondro protected area is located in the far north of Madagascar and covers approximately 75 000 hectares. Described as a natural resources reserve, it is characterized by the high-altitude rainforest that covers more than half of its area; lower down, secondary grassland and pasture, as well as small wetlands and marshes, make up the rest. Mahimborondro and the adjacent Bemanevika Harmonious Protected Landscape were both declared protected areas in 2015, thanks to the efforts of Lily and The Peregrine Fund. Fortunately, the isolation of the site has meant that it has escaped the habitat loss that prevails across many other parts of Madagascar.
Denne historien er fra September/October 2019-utgaven av African Birdlife.
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Denne historien er fra September/October 2019-utgaven av African Birdlife.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
Keith Barnes, co-author of the new Field Guide to Birds of Greater Southern Africa, chats about the long-neglected birding regions just north of the Kunene and Zambezi, getting back to watching birds and the vulture that changed his life.
footloose IN FYNBOS
The Walker Bay Diversity Trail is a leisurely hike with a multitude of flowers, feathers and flavours along the way.
Living forwards
How photographing birds helps me face adversity
CAPE crusade
The Cape Bird Club/City of Cape Town Birding Big Year Challenge
water & WINGS
WATER IS LIFE. As wildlife photographer Greg du Toit knows better than most.
winter wanderer
as summer becomes a memory in the south, the skies are a little quieter as the migrants have returned to the warming north. But one bird endemic to the southern African region takes its own little winter journey.
when perfect isn't enough
Egg signatures and forgeries in the cuckoo-drongo arms race
Southern SIGHTINGS
The late summer period naturally started quietening down after the midsummer excitement, but there were still some classy rarities on offer for birders all over the subregion. As always, none of the records included here have been adjudicated by any of the subregion's Rarities Committees.
flood impact on wetland birds
One of the features of a warming planet is increasingly erratic rainfall; years of drought followed by devastating floods. Fortunately, many waterbirds are pre-adapted to cope with such extremes, especially in southern Africa where they have evolved to exploit episodic rainfall events in semi-arid and arid regions. But how do waterbirds respond to floods in areas where rainfall - and access to water - is more predictable? Peter Ryan explores the consequences of recent floods on the birds of the Western Cape's Olifants River valley.
a star is born
It’s every producer’s dream to plan a wildlife television series and pick the right characters before filming.
