Gîte de Bélouve-Trou de Fer

The Forest of Bélouve is located between the rampart of Salazie to the west and Monique Hill to the east, and between Trou de Fer to the north and an almost horizontal line passing through the car park of Monique Hill to the south. The Forest of Bébour is to the south of this line. The name of the forest comes from the Malagasy word Belova, "Be" meaning "great" and "Lova" "heritage". Indeed, the forest of Bélouve is made up of a tamarind forest in the natural state, a forest of coloured wood and ponds with a specific ecosystem. Crossing the Col de Bébour, we enter the fourth cirque of Reunion Island. 150 000 years ago, Bébour was deeply eroded, like the three cirques we know today. At that time, the Piton des Neiges volcano awoke and half-filled the cirque, giving it its current flat bottom. Piton des Neiges and the various eruption cones became inactive more than 20 000 years ago, giving way to erosion, favourable to the development of the primary forest characterised by a young subsoil, dense forest cover, a cool and humid climate, relatively thin soil but rich in organic matter, little developed and waterlogged. The forests of Bébour and Bélouve are one of the best preserved natural environments of Reunion Island. Classified as a biological reserve over more than 5000 hectares in 1994, part of the heart of Reunion island National Park, part of which is in the heart of a cultivated area (farming of a tamarind grove for 50 years), these forests remain a very fragile environment, jeopardised by plant pests (especially brown grapes), poachers, and a few careless hikers. Native species such as palm kernels, fanjans and some orchids all too often fall victim to poaching. At least 60 species of orchids have been recorded in this rich forest of Bébour, which is one of the last natural areas of the island to function in an original way. Apart from human activities, the threat also comes from invasive plant species such as fuschia, begonia, guava, longose and arum. Here, the ONF is combatting these species and trying to preserve, for example, a species of soapwood that botanists thought had disappeared, badula fragilis.

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