Mangroves de la Baie d'Ambaro

Mangroves de la Baie d'Ambaro

Country:
Madagascar
Site number:
2438
Area:
54,000.0 ha
Designation date:
20-08-2020
Coordinates:
13°11'55"S 48°49'41"E
  • Village d'Ankazomborona et mangroves dans la Baie d'Ambaro
  • Mangroves le long du chenal
  • Zone de restauration
  • Haliaeetus vociferoides
  • Anas bernieri
  • Ardea humbloti
  • Peuplement de Sterna bengalensis
  • Microcebus sambiranensis
  • Shpyrna mokarran
  • Village de pêcheurs
  • Femme pêcheur
  • Pêcheurs

Materials presented on this website, particularly maps and territorial information, are as-is and as-available based on available data and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.


Ambaro Bay is on the north-west coast of Madagascar, and forms part of the Mozambique Channel between the Island of Nosy Faly and Port Saint-Louis. The Site is characterized by extensive mangrove stands where the forests meet the shoreline. The Bay is an important biodiversity area that provides habitat and feeding and reproduction sites to threatened and endemic plants and animals. Of its 99 bird species, 44 are specific to wetlands. Some are threatened, including the critically endangered Madagascar fish eagle Haliaeetus vociferoides and the endangered Madagascar heron Ardea humbloti, Malagasy pond heron Ardeola idae, Madagascar teal Anas bernieri and Van Dam’s vanga Xenopirostris damii. Other notable species include the threatened lemurs Eulemur macaco, Hapalemur occidentalis and Microcebus sambiranensis, and fish such as the Madagascar sea catfish Arius madagascariensis, the blacktip Sardinella Sardinella melanura and Commerson’s glassy perchlet Ambassis commersoni. Seven mangrove species have been recorded, with Avicennia marina and Sonneratia alba the most abundant. They play a central role in local livelihoods, contributing to fisheries, agriculture and water provisioning. In addition, the system contributes significantly to carbon sequestration and counters the impacts of climate change by acting as a buffer against rising sea levels and high winds and storms. Threats to the Site include unplanned urban development and conversion of land for agriculture and housing, logging and wood harvesting, overfishing and overharvesting of other aquatic resources. A management plan, covering part of Ambaro Bay, is in place.

Administrative region: Région DIANA

National legal designation:
  • Site de transfert de gestion des ressources naturelles de la baie d’Ambaro - DIANA
Last publication date: 16-10-2020
Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS)
Site map
Additional reports and documents