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The Mananara Nord National Park consists of a land and marine park that are both rich in biodiversity as well as natural and original beauty.
The marine park is the first created in Madagascar. The site is commonly called Nosy Antafana. It is a set of three islets located 2.5km off [[Sahasoa]]. The largest is Nosy Be or [[Nosy Antafana]], where a fresh water source is located. The second is [[Nosy Rangontsy]], named after the man whose remains were the first to be deposited there. On this islet is are a mangrove swamp, an expanse of brackish water with fish and in the east huge masses of granite. The last island and the smallest is [[Nosy Hely]]. It is a real marine ecosystem with various representative ecological niches. Coral reefs are among the most beautiful and rich in biodiversity of the east coast of Madagascar. The land park represents the eastern eco-region with littoral forests and forest islands.
== How to get there ==
'''By boat''' from Mananara to the park (1-1.5 hour by speedboat, 3-4 hours by slow boat), or from [[Antanambe]] to the park (45 minutes by speedboat). From Soanierana Ivongo or [[Sainte Marie]] to Mananara it takes 5 hours by boat respectively. The sea is calm from April to October.
== Population ==
There are over 186 villages and hamlets. A large part of the population is farmers. The dominant agricultural activity is rice cultivation (slash/burn and irrigated) and cash crops. Mananara is the largest producer of cloves in Madagascar, of vanilla in the Toamasina province and is also one of the largest coffee producers. As for fishing, despite strong potential, fishery resources are still underutilised in Mananara.
The majority of the population consists of the [[Betsimisaraka]] ethnic group with a strong presence of [[Tsimihety]] and Métis (mixed-race). Most of the people live in the fertile valleys of Mananara, Sandrakatsy, Saharamy and Manambato.
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