A Biological Assessment of the Reserve Naturelle Integrale of d’Ankarafantsika, Madagascar

Over the past half century, slash-and-burn rice farming on Madagascar has slowly expanded from the coastal lowlands into the dense tropical forests of the island’s central plateau—many of which are officially protected reserves. This rapid assessment focuses on the Réserve Naturelle Intégrale of d’Ankarafantsika, in the northern portion of the island. The area is filled with diverse endemic species, but increasingly threatened by local agricultural methods, and this assessment is critical to the process of evaluating risks and developing sound conversation policies for the future.