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Androy Ala Kibory Tomb Forests (regional)
South-central Androy, southern Madagascar
Madagascar
Active
Regional cluster
- Location
- South-central Androy, southern Madagascar
- Coordinates
- ~25.0°S 45.7°E
- Elevation
- Spiny-forest lowland
- Size
- All mapped forest patches >5 ha in south-central Androy are ala kibory
- Age / Founded
- Ancient (ancestral burial)
- Status
- Active
- Deity & Religion
- Ancestral spirits ('trees grow with the spirits of the ancestors'); Tandroy religion (fady)
- Community & Guardians
- Tandroy people; ombiasy (healers) enforce taboos
- Vernacular name
- Ala kibory (tomb taboo forest)
- Record type
- Regional cluster
Cultural practices & uses
Taboo forests around kibory (communal tombs); protect ancestors; largely untouched even in intensively used land
Plant species
Spiny-forest flora; sacred baobabs; Didiereaceae
Biome & fauna
Spiny Forest ecoregion; tortoises, lemurs, birds (sacred animals)
Threats & protection
Among most ecologically important fady forests; key dry-forest remnants
Source
Tengö et al. (ICCA); Mongabay 2021 'Cultural taboos can protect or harm the environment'