Description

La Maison de la Forêt is located on Route de la Traversée, in the heart of the Mamelles National Park. Gives access to an exhibition on the Guadalupe forest supervised by park agents. There is also a discovery trail, designed and maintained by the National Park, to make the richness of the tropical forest accessible to all, which has twice as many trees as mainland France. 

The tour allows you to discover a true ecosystem created between the ground and the tops* of large trees that reach 40 meters in height. The climate being very humid, you can observe the exuberant vegetation of the aptly named “rain forest*”. In the rainy season, the water runs everywhere so the ground is permanently soaked; air humidity is high, more than 90%; and it rains between 4 and 6 cubic meters of water. The trail for discovery, has a very nice picnic area to share moments of conviviality with family and friends, which runs along the “Bras-David” river. Rising to an altitude of 1000 meters in the Pitons de Bouillante, it is swimmable and safe (when the weather is good). On the plain, it joins the broad watercourse of the Grande-Rivière de Goyave which flows north into the Grand Cul-de-Sac marin. 

Biodiversity

The biodiversity offered by this tropical forest* goes through the richness of trees of different species and the ecosystem created between the climate and the vegetation present. Walls of vegetation and plants that lean over the water in search of humidity create sometimes unusual spaces to find light. Being frequent the fall of trees along the river, different species of insects and plants develop in it. 

Most tree roots do not penetrate deeply, so roots with strong buttresses are found in the soil, but also stilt roots that grow in the open before penetrating the soil. There are also “water lianas” that hang from the treetops, these are woody plants that can reach more than 30 cm in diameter and are heavily loaded with sap. You can also see mosaics with several floors of vegetation on the ground, mosses and ferns maintaining humidity, in the trees the epiphytes* that live there clinging to which only borrow the trunk as a base. Not far from the river, there are all the other species of heliophilous plants*, which require a lot of light to develop. The cicadas and their songs give an authentic touch to the tropical forest and the songs of the mangrove cuckoos (Coccyzus minor), plumbeous warblers (Setophaga plumbea) and brown tremblers (Cinclocerthia ruficauda) also participate. In the river there are freshwater prawns (Machrobachium carcinus and Atya scabra) and flathead grey mullets (Mugil cephalus) characteristic of the environment. 

Ecotourism potential

The path condenses many species which allows families to discover, without great difficulties, the biodiversity of the tropical forest that constitutes the Mamelles National Park. When visiting it, the guide is carried out through a very complete map with legends, that allows us to appreciate each essential point to know about the biodiversity of the forest.