Worldwide, high-elevation and high-latitude systems are experiencing the effects of global change faster than elsewhere, but there are limited data on the rate and impact of this change in Malagasy mountains. Reaching 2876 m, these mountains are some of the least-studied areas on the island of Madagascar. The Malagasy Mountain Programme aims to attract greater national and international interest in Malagasy mountains as social-ecological systems and is designed as a net for cooperative research, practitioner interventions, and policy impacts. As a small start, the Programme is a collaborative partnership between the Afromontane Research Unit (University of the Free State, South Africa), Association Vahatra (Madagascar), and the University of Antananarivo (Departments of Plant Biology & Ecology and Zoology & Animal Biodiversity, Madagascar). Additional partnerships are being developed, and more are welcomed.
Madagascar's mountains
Situated along a north–south latitude gradient of 12.3°, with the highest peak (Maromokotro) in the Tsaratanana range reaching 2876 m, the Malagasy mountains (Figures 1, 2; Box 1) overflow with rich endemic biodiversity (Goodman et al 2022; Omollo et al 2024) and provide essential ecosystem services (Silander et al 2023). However, many of these mountains are only patchily studied (see, eg, The Terrestrial Protected Areas of Madagascar volumes published by Association Vahatra; Goodman et al 2018). This lack of knowledge can be explained by logistic access challenges (Sherz et al 2015; see also further reading section), other geographic focal research areas on the island of Madagascar (such as the eastern lowland rainforests and spiny thickets), and limited multidisciplinary mountain research capacity in southern Africa (Clark et al 2021), including Madagascar. Yet available evidence suggests these mountains are changing rapidly from global change drivers—including warming and human pressure (Brown et al 2015; Goodman et al 2018)—that are exacerbating deforestation, fire intensity and frequency, rangeland and wetland degradation, alien species invasions, water insecurity, and local species extinctions (Gade 1996; Vagen 2006; Russi et al 2013; Bamford et al 2017; Goodman and Raherilalao 2023).
FIGURE 1
Madagascar's mountain ranges with a selection of Malagasy mountains and massifs that would have been (re-)surveyed as elevation transections in the proposed “MadMont” project, showing the 12.3° latitudinal gradient. (Map by J. le Roux)
The Malagasy mountains have unique elevation-dependent assemblages of biodiversity, with the elevation belts on the higher massifs (such as Tsaratanana, Andringitra, Ankaratra, and Marojejy) generally described as montane forest, ericoid mountain thicket, and upland grassland (moorland) (Goodman 1996; Gautier and Goodman 2003; Goodman and Raherilalao 2023) (Figure 2). Each elevation belt has different forms of natural resource use with different environmental impacts, challenges, and economic livelihood opportunities related to biodiversity. Many local endemics are confined to narrow elevation bands and are highly vulnerable to direct (eg deforestation) and indirect (eg climate change) human disturbance. The pressures on these ecosystems have severe consequences not only on biodiversity but also for human communities that depend on them for resources.
Mountain research and capacity
Research on Madagascar's mountains has been patchy in time, disciplines, and geography, with some mountains better studied than others (eg Andringitra versus Tsaratanana; Goodman et al 2023). Many mountains need consolidated reviews or syntheses of activities and interventions to date before decisions on future research or intervention investments can be made. For example, a review of social-ecological dynamics in the context of global change in the Ankaratra Massif is currently in preparation. Published repeat elevational data to determine global change (including warming) impacts are also limited. This affects the ability of traditional and formal governance to consider realistic and related interventions to address climate change impacts and adaptation. As for Africa as a whole (Clark and Martin 2024), there is a need for capacity building for local Malagasy mountain research, policy, and practitioner capacity to actively drive the translation of science into the policy and practice sectors for sustainable Malagasy mountain ecosystems and communities.
There is also a need and opportunities for skills transfer and scaling up of relatively simple nature-based interventions that have been successfully implemented in South Africa for many years; for example, fire management (Working on Fire), wetland restoration (Working for Wetlands), controlling woody invasive species (Working for Water), and unlocking communal rangeland for the commercial red meat market through best practice ecological governance (Meat Naturally). All of these have skill/capacity development and poverty alleviation focuses that can be applied to rural communities in Madagascar. Demand for these skills is evident in the Fitantanana Maharitra ho Lovainjafy project (Samoelah 2022), a program independent of the Malagasy Mountain Programme that is seeking to improve fire capacity interventions in 5 Malagasy protected areas and Association Vahatra's existing community-based fire interventions at Ambohitantely Special Reserve. For example, effective fire management in Madagascar's mountains can reduce the seasonal risk of burning of remaining native forests and be used for passive restoration of ericoid mountain thicket (Martin and Burgess nd).
BOX 1: Madagascar's mountains
Madagascar is not typically thought of as being a mountainous island nation, largely because popular perception is of the lowland forests in the east, the dry forests of the west, and the spiny thickets in the south. Madagascar's higher mountains are more difficult to access without some logistic agility and—other than Montagne d'Ambre, Andringitra, and Marojejy, which are part of well-managed protected areas under Madagascar National Parks—they are not part of typical tourist circuits. Even Ankaratra Massif, only 70 km south of Antananarivo, requires special logistics to access and is not a straightforward destination.
Nevertheless, Madagascar has numerous massifs exceeding 2000 m elevation, and even some coastal ranges, such as Masoala in the northeast, have significant elevation differences (or overall prominence) exceeding 1.3 vertical kilometers; as a comparison, the Maloti-Drakensberg in South Africa–Lesotho has an elevation difference of 1.5–2 vertical kilometers. So, as is also shown in the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment's Mountain Portal, Madagascar is thus actually quite rugged and, in addition to mountains, has an extensive, ancient, interior high-elevation plateau (Malagasy Central Highlands, >1600 m), similar to elsewhere in southern Africa, such as the South African Highveld and Zimbabwe's Mashonaland Plateau
The 3 highest summits are Maromokotra (2876 m) in the extensive northern Tsaratanana Range, Pic Boby (2658 m) in the Andringitra Mountains, and Tsiafajavona (2643 m) of Ankaratra, also part of an extensive range. Maromokotra is not accessible to tourists, and even scientists need special permission to access Tsaratanana; this is a remote mountain range in a poorly studied area of Madagascar. Andringitra is the most well-known massif, as the associated national park is quite a popular hiking destination.
To date, the Malagasy Mountain Programme has focused on Ambohitantely Special Reserve (Box 2; Figure 3A, B) through Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) participation in field schools, and the Ankaratra Massif (Box 3; Figure 3C, D), through site visits for a collaborative social-ecological review paper. In 2024, the Programme also submitted a substantial application focused on social-ecological research called “MadMont.” This was unsuccessful despite reaching the final stages of the selection process but will be repackaged for other options or implemented in stages (depending on funding). An easily obtainable objective, in this regard, is the planned establishment of 2 long-term Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN; Haider et al 2022) elevation transects on Ankaratra (1.1 km elevation difference) and on the Masoala peninsular mountain range (1.3 km elevation difference; Figure 3E, F) in 2025. These were scouted in August and September 2024. Madagascar will feature prominently at the Second Southern African Mountain Conference in March 2025, through an invited keynote address by Professor Steven Goodman of Association Vahatra and the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History.
FIGURE 3
(A) Ambohitantely Special Reserve northwest of Antananarivo, in the Central Malagasy Highlands, has some of the last remaining forests in this part of Madagascar, though large parts were devastated by wildfire in 2022, and (B) intact remnant forest (shown here with Dr “Joro” Rakotoarivelo); (C) Ankaratra Massif, here viewed from the summit of Tsiafajavona (2643 m), the third-highest mountain in Madagascar (with Professor Ralph Clark and Professor Jay le Roux), faces (D) complex social-ecological challenges across all vegetation zones—here we see remnant evergreen forest, ericoid mountain thicket, and upland grassland (moorland), along with the invasive patula pine (Pinus patula); (E) the Masoala peninsular mountain range has a substantial elevation difference of 1.3 vertical kilometers and is covered in tropical rainforest, (F) where the most potentially problematic invasive species is the true cinnamon tree, Cinnamomum verum. (Photos A–D by Andrinajoro R. Rakotoarivelo and E and F by Jay le Roux)
Future collaboration
There are major data gaps in terms of understanding patterns of global change effects in Madagascar's mountains and related risks, as well as in understanding how local communities value and use resources in these mountains. This compromises the ability to inform policy and practice for ecosystem resilience and for creating local incentives for adaptation and sustainable use of biological diversity, including innovative methods for restoration and creating novel livelihoods opportunities related to, for example, fire management, invasive species management, passive heath forest restoration, rangeland management, and carbon facilities.
BOX 2: Ambohitantely Special Reserve
Ambohitantely Special Reserve is located toward the eastern edge of the Malagasy Central Highlands about 70 km northwest of Antananarivo. Historically forested, the only forest left in the area now is found in pockets in the protected area; in 2022, about one-third of the remaining forest was destroyed by wildfire. These remaining islands of forest host a significant suite of Malagasy biodiversity and are particularly important for their plant diversity and range of land vertebrates, several being local endemics. Association Vahatra has a research station in the Reserve and conducts a range of different research projects and field schools for young postgraduate students at the site. In partnership with Madagascar National Parks, Association Vahatra has an active forest restoration and fire management program.
Another critical research gap is the lack of long-term monitoring stations that could provide continuous data on biodiversity and climate-related changes. Establishing such stations in different elevation zones, from montane forests to moorlands, would help generate the hard evidence needed to inform policy and practice.
The Malagasy Mountain Programme will also focus on integrating traditional knowledge with modern conservation practices to create sustainable resource management strategies. This could include community-based programs that promote conservation while also enhancing local livelihoods through alternative income sources. For example, ecotourism, agroforestry, and the development of carbon offset markets could be piloted in these regions, providing communities with incentives to protect their natural environment (Neugarten et al 2016).
BOX 3: Ankaratra massif and its social-ecological challenges
In terms of Malagasy mountains, the Ankaratra Massif represents most of the island's mountain challenges in one package. The 5000 km2 massif was largely forested in the 18th century, including extensive ericoid mountain thicket that is now mostly rangeland pasture. However, legend has it that the (now very degraded) Anosiorivo Forest was planted by royal decree—a criterion by the local king for a young man from the east to be betrothed to the king's daughter. Ankaratra has complex social-ecological issues and is the most degraded and disturbed mountain of the 3 highest massifs. There is rampant deforestation of native evergreen forest for charcoal, but the charcoal burners also remove the invasive patula pine (Pinus patula), so there is a mixed benefit here. Woody alien invasion by patula pine, gums (Eucalyptus), and silver wattle (Acacia dealbata) is a challenge in forest, remnant ericoid mountain thicket, and moorland, but these also provide useful timber resources for local communities. Herbaceous invasives, such as mist-flower (Ageratina riparia), are more problematic in that they have no real value and are replacing large areas of forest floor with a monoculture, probably impeding forest succession processes; the plant also grows in damp grassland up to 2500 m. Most of the original ericoid mountain thickets have been burned and are reburned seasonally. The higher elevations (>2400 m) of the mountain are being turned into potato fields, and there is likely overuse of fire in these subalpine moorlands and potentially overgrazing too. The 8141 ha Manjakatompo Ankaratra Natural Resources Reserve—on the northern side of the Massif—is not much more than a token protected area, and a complex nexus of degradation continues. Nevertheless, for now at least, Ankaratra, which is listed as a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) by the KBA Partnership, still contains fantastic biodiversity, including endemic and near-endemic plants, amphibians, and reptiles, although several endemic species are Critically Endangered and even possibly Extinct (eg some ground orchids). Is the difficult situation resolvable? Yes, with investment in proven community-appropriate, nature-based solutions, upgrading the Natural Resources Reserve to National Park status and including it in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Biosphere Reserve Programme in Madagascar.
The Malagasy Mountain Programme is open for collaboration with others with an interest in Madagascar's mountains. Please contact the ARU Director and corresponding author of this article, Professor Ralph Clark.
WEBSITES
Key Biodiversity Area Partnership: https://www.keybiodiversityareas.org/
Malagasy Mountain Programme: https://www.ufs.ac.za/aru/Initiatives/malagasy-mountain-programme
Meat Naturally: https://www.conservation.org/projects/conservation-international-ventures-llc/meat-naturally-pty
Protected Areas of Madagascar: https://protectedareas.mg/ Southern African Mountain Conference 2025 (SAMC2025): https://2025.samc.africa/
Working for Water: https://www.dffe.gov.za/working-water-wfw-programme
Working for Wetlands: https://www.dffe.gov.za/WorkingforWetlands
Working on Fire: https://workingonfire.org/
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) is deeply grateful to the South African Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) for their invaluable support and contribution to initial activities in 2023 and 2024 through a Risk & Vulnerability Science Centre award (Grant No. 128386) to V. Ralph Clark. Field visits by Andrinajoro R. Rakotoarivelo, Jay le Roux, and V. Ralph Clark in 2024 were funded through the University of the Free State via NRF rating incentive funds. We are also grateful for emerging collaborations with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the Missouri Botanical Gardens, the Peregrine Fund, and the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
© 2025 Clark et al.
This open access article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Please credit the authors and the full source.
FURTHER READING
Clark R, Rakotoarivelo A. 2024. A trip to Ankaratra—Madagascar's third-highest massif. Veld and Flora. Cape Town, South Africa: Botanical Society of South Africa. https://botanicalsociety.org.za/tracking-flora-up-a-madagascan-massif/; accessed on 12 November 2024.
Rakotoarivelo AR, Rakotoarisoa SE, Rene de Roland L-A, Benjara A, Rakotondratsima M, Thorstrom R, Andriambololonera S. 2024. Malagasy Central Highlands: The regional perspective. In: Schneiderbauer S, Fontanella PP, Shroder J, Szarzynski J, editors. Safeguarding Mountain Social–Ecological Systems. Vol. 2: Building Transformative Resilience in Mountain Regions Worldwide. Part 2: Africa. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Elsevier, pp 87–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-32824-4.00038-9.
Rakotonasolo F, Rakotoarisoa A, Rabeharison D, Hackel J. 2022. Climbing Madagascar's highest mountain II: A second attempt to survey vegetation atop Madagascar's highest peak yields new discoveries and adventure. Read and Watch 23 November 2022. London, United Kingdom: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/climbing-madagascars-mountain-two; accessed on 12 November 2024.
