VOIMMA Reserve

The V.O.I.M.M.A letter sequence is an abbreviation for Vondron’olona Ifotony Mitia sy Miaro ny Ala, in English “Local people love the forest”. The name says it all: in 2012, villagers from Andasibe wanted to manage their land on their own again and be a part of ecotourism in this area. Today 0.4 sqkm of primary rainforest belong to the young V.O.I.M.M.A. Reserve area. Half of the generated money is used for several projects in Andasibe, e.g. building water taps or supporting a small local hospital. Thus the reserve follows similar projects like Anja Community Reserve, which predicate on sustainable use of their threatened rainforests.

Despite its small size, the reserve is an untouched paradise for endemic animals and plants, where visitors can easily spend a whole day enjoying nature. Some groups of Indris can be watched here in their natural habitat, and its white-headed relatives, the diademed sifakas, often jump between the tree tops. Some other lemurs such as woolly lemurs can also be seen.