Our next one-hour stop was Anja Community Reserve (Anja Miray), a remarkable 30-hectare community-managed forest reserve established in 1999. Located about 13 kilometres south of Ambalavao along the RN7, this highly successful conservation project has become one of Madagascar’s leading examples of sustainable, community-driven ecotourism. Managed by local villagers, the reserve protects both the region’s unique wildlife and the cultural traditions of surrounding communities, while generating income through responsible tourism.
Anja Community Reserve is especially renowned for its dense population of habituated ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta), making it one of the best places in Madagascar to observe these iconic primates up close (🎟️ 20,000 MGA, guide: 60,000 MGA). More than 600 ring-tailed lemurs inhabit the reserve’s rocky forest, where they are often seen sunbathing on boulders, leaping among trees, or foraging across the landscape.
The reserve is dramatically set beneath towering granite formations known as the “Three Sisters” (Telo Mirahavavy), spectacular 500-meter-high rock outcrops that create one of the region’s most striking natural backdrops.
