The lemur, a primate with an intense gaze clinging to its branch, devours them with its eyes: these tourists from Antananarivo, four hours away, are the first humans seen in a long time, due to the Covid crisis.
In Madagascar, in this forest near the Andasibe national park, nature is intact and noisy only with the cries of animals. After five months of confinement, the Malagasy were able to return to the road on September 5 as well as flights within the Indian Ocean island.
But tourist operators, such as around this reserve which has many lemurs, emblematic animals of the country, are suffering, waiting for the resumption of international flights.
Like certain Parisians, who took advantage of the absence of foreigners to (finally) visit the Eiffel Tower, this Malagasy family left “Tana” as soon as they could to get some fresh air and come admire these primates singular people who intrigue the whole world.
Notably the indri indri, the largest of the lemurs, with its black and white coat and very recognizable high-pitched cry, which is in critical danger of extinction.
“During confinement, I really wanted to leave the capital and I thought I should take advantage of it to visit new places,” explains Linda Maminiaina, 22 years old.
“These are not lemurs in a cage, but in their natural habitat. We see them living, eating!” marvels his younger sister Prisca, 20, accompanied by her parents and her two little brothers.
The pandemic also directly affects the forest
But French hotelier Anouk Izouard, who also manages a restaurant and a private piece of forest, still sees far too few people for her liking. “We should be in peak season, with a 90% occupancy rate,” she confided to AFP. With local travelers, it can only hope to reach 5 to 10%.
The majority of its employees, usually around a hundred, have been unemployed for more than three months.
In addition to tourism, the pandemic also directly affects the forest. In thirty years, Pascal Pierre, president of the Andasibe forest guides association, has never seen this: “The villagers have cut down trees to make firewood because that is what sells the most “, he told AFP.
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“Some also take wood for construction, they illegally exploit the forest to make money,” he adds in disappointment.
Along with the forest, it is the habitat of lemurs and all the unique fauna of Madagascar, famous for its incredible biodiversity, which goes up in smoke. A fragile ecosystem on which tourism also depends, which represents 7% of the Malagasy economy.
According to the latest red list published in July by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 103 of the 107 lemur species are threatened, mainly due to deforestation and hunting, of which 33 are endangered. critical, last category before extinction.
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