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Ankazomborona: nature at the heart of sustainable development

Posted on 11 April 2025

Located some forty kilometers from the town of Ambilobe, Ankazomborona offers a unique immersion into the heart of exceptional biodiversity. The site fascinates visitors with its splendid ecosystems, which combine rainforest (204 ha) and mangroves (1359 ha), and are home to a wide variety of wildlife, including majestic pink flamingos and emblematic lemurs such as the Eulemur macaco.

This high ecological potential made it an official ecotourism site in June 2023. Between June 2023 and February 2025, 34 foreign tourists, 58 residents and 19 scientific and university research groups visited this biodiversity sanctuary. The site offers four different circuits: the “lemur” circuit, where visitors can interact with these primates in a natural environment; the “reforestation” circuit, where visitors can appreciate mangrove restoration efforts; the ‘viewpoint’ circuit, which overlooks Ambaro Bay and from which visitors can observe neighboring islets; and the “marine” circuit, where visitors can observe pink flamingos and numerous endemic bird species.

This ecotourism site is the pride of the Ankameva community-based organization, which manages it with the support of WWF. Reception, catering, accommodation and guiding are all handled by the communities. A 13-strong team takes care of the catering: the men go fishing and the women take care of the cooking, offering a wide choice of fresh dishes for seafood lovers. 19 guides, including 5 women, are on hand to take visitors around the different circuits.

Narcisse, one of the tour guides, spoke of the communities' strong commitment and deep desire to help the world discover this natural jewel: "There was a time when the mangroves in our area were showing major signs of degradation, and this was significantly affecting our livelihood. That's when we joined forces to restore and reforest the mangroves. The vast majority of the population are members of the Ankameva community organization, and together we are working to protect them. We prayed that our efforts would contribute to making Ankazomborona the ecotourism site it is today."

The Ankazomborona ecotourism site generates essential income for communities, helping to cover part of their operating costs, and contributes to financing social projects such as the construction and renovation of schools, hospitals, churches and road infrastructures. It also contributes to local economic development by providing women's associations with income opportunities through the catering service, and by guaranteeing allowances for tour guides. "Our wish is for Ankazomborona to become better known so that the community can develop. We still lack adequate reception and accommodation facilities, and also need capacity building in foreign languages. This would enable us to improve the quality of our services," said the members of the Ankameva community.

Much more than just a tourist destination, Ankazomborona is above all a haven of peace where nature has been carefully preserved. Discover it and support local development for a more sustainable future and a thriving nature.