Guy Witney Krocker: Reniala Private Reserve

The drive to Ifaty from Tolaria takes you north along the coastline through several Reza fishing villages. The area is predominantly sandy dunes with spiny brush Euphorbia species and grasses. Although fishing is the main commerce in these villages there also many shallow ponds along the road where Spirulina is grown and harvested. A second important source of income comes from harvest reeds from the wetland edges. The villagers fashion the reeds into thatched panels for walls and roofs. These panels become components of prefabricated homes that are easily transported by Zebu (cow) driven carts to any village in the surrounding area. Although low quality bricks are inexpensive here and readily available, the light weight and trans-portability of these prefab “mobile” homes have made this option very popular.

I note that a Chinese company is rebuilding the road between Toliara and Ifaty from an extremely rough trail to a workable dirt highway for "purely altruistic" motivation.

It is nice to see that an NGO is working to restore mangrove trees to the waters edges. Over time the existing mangroves trees were cut down for canoe parts, houses and firewood. With the loss of the trees, the micro eco-systems associated with them, fish, birds, reptiles and insects disappeared as well. As a result in this particular case the importance of the Mangroves has become more obvious to the locals and with their support the reforestation project is a success.

Sadly many in most other areas of Madagascar the impact of deforestation has not yet become obvious to the local populations and land is cleared for farming and other cash tangible crops at a devastating rate.

The Reniala Private Reserve is 80 Ha of relatively pristine spiny forest with a good track record of working with local peoples to ensure the ongoing preservation of the incredible numbers of endemic species in the area. They provide facilities for local children’s study programs and guide training programs as well as offering scholarships to many students and universities.

The trails are well groomed with plants identified by signage. There are more than a thousand Baobobs on the property as well as more than 2000 other plant species. The guides are very knowledgeable while on our 500 am hike along the trails they worked as a team to spot every possible species they could including several incredibly rare birds now found only in that reserve. Really a special place to stay although the Grey Mouse Lemurs chattering and pouncing on the rooftop all night made for a very poor sleep.