Anja Community Reserve

Anja is thirty hectares of forest among fallen granite boulders below a cliff, managed since 1999 by the village association that owns it, and it is the most successful community conservation project in Madagascar by most measures: the forest has regrown, the ring-tailed lemur population has increased, and the income supports schools and water supply in the villages around. For visitors it is simply the easiest place in the country to watch ring-tailed lemurs, which move through the boulders in troops and are entirely used to people at close range. Chameleons, tombs set into the rock, and a steep optional climb to a viewpoint complete the circuit. Guides are villagers trained by the association. The whole visit takes a couple of hours and it sits directly on the main road south.

What you actually see

• Ring-tailed lemurs - troops at close range among the boulders.
• Granite boulder forest - regrown woodland under a cliff face.
• Rock tombs - Betsileo burial sites in the crevices.
• Community guiding - villagers running the reserve themselves.

When to go

April to November for dry paths; lemurs are active early and late and rest in the middle of the day. The reserve is on the RN7 and works as a two-hour stop between Fianarantsoa and Ranohira.

Honest expectations

The reserve is small and the circuit is short, so it is a stop rather than a day. Lemurs are habituated, which makes viewing easy but not wild. The optional climb is steep and scrambly over boulders. It gets busy when tour groups arrive together in the middle of the day.

Nearby

Ambalavao is north; Andringitra and Tsaranoro lie southeast.