page_title: Tsimanampetsotsa National Park
section_title: History and Significance
hierarchical_section_title: Tsimanampetsotsa National Park / History and Significance
caption_attribution_description: English: statue of the extinct elelphant bird
context_page_description: Tsimanampetsotsa National Park also spelt Tsimanampetsotse, and known as Tsimanampetsotsa Nature Reserve is a 432 km² national park on the south-west coast of Madagascar in the region Atsimo-Andrefana. The park is 90 kilometres south of Toliara and 950 kilometres south of the capital, Antananarivo. Route Nationales 10 to Faux Cap passes the park and the nearest airport is at Toliara. The national park contains and is named after Lake Tsimanampetsotsa.
context_section_description: Tsimanampetsotsa National Park encompasses the western-most escarpment of the limestone Mahafaly Plateau. It was first protected in 1927 for its endemic flora and fauna and became a national park in 1966. It is within the spiny thicket or "spiny desert" of southern Madagascar, a globally distinctive ecoregion. This is the area with the highest level of plant endemism in Madagascar, with 48% of the genera and 95% of the species endemic and is listed as one of the 200 most important ecological regions in the world. The vegetation is characterized by many xerophytic and drought tolerant woody species of the Spurge family (Euphorbiaceae) and of the subfamily Didiereoideae, which is narrowly endemic to the southwest of Madagascar. In addition to exceptional plant diversity, Tsimanampetsotsa National Park is home to six species of primates representing four of the five families endemic to Madagascar. Several endemic animals, restricted to the dry south of Madagascar, occur here, including the recently described Grandidier's mongoose (Galidictis grandidieri) and the Madagascar radiated tortoise or sokake (Geochelone radiata). The national park contains and is named after Lake Tsimanampetsotsa, an important wetland which is registered as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, designated in 1998. In the 1930s Henri Perrier de la Bâthie discovered subfossil remains of many different species, including giant tortoise, crocodiles and eggshell fragments of elephant birds. Recent surveys confirm that Tsimanampetsotsa National Park is rich in fossils
  In July 2018, Tsimanampesotse – Nosy Ve Androka was established as Madagascar's 5th Biosphere Reserve. It belongs to the intertropical marine biogeographic system of the Southwest Indian Ocean and includes five large Malagasy ecoregions: the South Terrestrial Ecoregion, the Aquatic Ecoregion of the southern basins, the Aquatic Ecoregion of the West Basins, the Mozambique Mozambique Channel Marine Ecoregion and the South Marine Ecoregion. The core of the biosphere reserve is composed of the Tsimanampesotse National Park and the Nosy Ve-Androka National Park, managed by Madagascar National Parks; and Amoron'i Onilahy Category IV protected area, managed by local communities.
caption: Elephant bird statue at the entrance to Tsimanampetsotsa NP
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