Anja Community Reserve

About this place

Anja Community Reserve is a woodland area and freshwater lake at the base of a large cliff in south-central Madagascar. It holds the highest concentration of ring-tailed lemurs in the country, which are easy to see here, and it is a popular stop on the road between the capital and the south. It was created in 2001 with UNDP support, to protect the local environment and provide jobs and income for the community. Local people did not eat lemurs but used to sell them to outsiders, and on finding how sharply their numbers had fallen across Madagascar, they set up the reserve themselves. The local association Anja Miray runs it, and tourism income funds education and health projects and helps diversify livelihoods through fish farming and tree nurseries. You walk among huge boulders fallen from the cliff, with a pocket of forest sheltered between them and two small caves home to bats and owls. Lemurs sit in the trees and on rocks, large chameleons cling to branches and lizards warm themselves on stone. The longer trail climbs to the top of the mountain, with views over rice fields, the lake and wide hills. The reserve lies 13 km south of Ambalavao on National Road 7 and about 51 km from Fianarantsoa in a straight line. You must enter with a local guide. The short trail takes one to two hours and the long one up to six. Do not feed or touch the lemurs, and wear sturdy shoes, as the rocks are slippery.