Ebony Forest

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View of Black River Gorges National Park from the south-west View of Ebony forest and Black river 1.jpg
View of Black River Gorges National Park from the south-west

Ebony Forest Reserve Chamarel or just the Ebony Forest is a registered non-profit organisation, registration number: NSIF/2024/0016 conserving Mauritian endemic species with a rehabilitated indigenous forest (including rare semi-dry forest types), situated in Chamarel, in the south-west of Mauritius. [1] [2]

Contents

Establishment

Canopy walkway at Black River Gorges National Park Ebony Forest Chamarel - 10b.jpg
Canopy walkway at Black River Gorges National Park

It was established in June 2017, after 10 years of work in restoring habitats and planting 130,000 endemic plants. In addition to the reintroduced endemic species, the area is home to some of the few remaining stands of original mature endemic ebony trees. At present more than 154,000 plants have been planted and 34 ha have been weeded from invasive plant species.

Wildlife

Birds

Birds commonly found nearby are the Mauritius paradise flycatcher ( Terpsiphone bourbonnensis ), the echo parakeet ( Psittacula eques echo ), the pink pigeon ( Nesoenas mayeri ), the Mauritius kestrel ( Falco punctatus ), the Mauritius bulbul ( Hypsipetes olivaceus ), the olive white-eye ( Zosterops chloronothos ), and the grey white-eye ( Zosterops mauritianus ).

Bats

The Mauritius flying fox, Mauritian tomb bat and the Natal free-tailed bat can be found in the area.

Flora

The plants include ebony ( Diospyros tesselaria ), Mauritius coral tree ( Chassalia boryana ), bois tambour ( Tambourissa cocottensis ) and screw pines ( Pandanus ).

Facilities

Ebony Forest Reserve Chamarel - One of the look-out points in Chamarel. Ebony Forest Reserve runs guided tours or Safari jeep tours. There is a museum, snack point and educational facilities at the Reserve.

It is located next to the Seven Coloured Earths site and near Lavilleon Natural Forest, in the Chamarel area in the south west of the island. [3] [4]

References

  1. "Ebony - Home". Ebonyforest.com. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  2. "Ebony Forest (Chamarel, Mauritius)". La Vanille Nature Park. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  3. "Non technical summary" (PDF). Environment.govmu.org. Retrieved 26 March 2019.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. "EEBONY FOREST À CHAMAREL: Sanctuaire de l'endémicité". Le Mauricien. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2019.

20°26′13″S57°22′19″E / 20.43694°S 57.37194°E / -20.43694; 57.37194