The Mangoky River is a 564-kilometre river in south-western Madagascar, flowing from the Central Highlands to the Mozambique Channel.
Rising just east of Fianarantsoa, the Mangoky is formed by the confluence of the Mananantanana and Matsiatra rivers, with the Zomandao among its other tributaries. It travels westward through the southern extension of the Bemaraha Plateau before reaching the coastal plain and entering the ocean north of Morombe. The river’s basin has suffered extreme soil erosion over the past four decades, largely driven by slash-and-burn agriculture. Sandbars choke the channel, and the silt-laden waters feed Lake Ihotry near the delta. The southern delta is marked by barrier islands and spits; the northern, more sheltered portion contains tidal passes and mangrove swamps. The erosion stands as a stark measure of Madagascar’s wider deforestation crisis, in which indigenous farming practises and forest loss have reshaped entire watersheds.
