At the centre of Lake Tseny, a small island tells a story that numbers alone cannot fully capture. In 2015, just four bats were recorded there.

Today, more than a decade later, that number has changed dramatically. During a count conducted by Madagasikara Voakajy’s team in August 2026, an average of 610 bats was recorded on the small island.

For Jaoasy, Mayor of Tsaratanana I Rural Commune, where Lake Tseny is located, the change is striking. He remembers a time when only a handful of bats occupied the island. Their growing numbers, he says, reflect the changes that have taken place since efforts to protect and sustainably manage the lake began.

The recovery did not happen overnight.

Over the years, protection measures and passive restoration have allowed the vegetation around the bats’ roost to recover naturally. As human pressure was reduced, the forest was given time and space to regenerate. Slowly, the landscape began to change and wildlife responded.

The increase in the bat population is now a visible and measurable result of this recovery.

Lake Tseny is best known as the only natural habitat of Damba Menarambo, a unique freshwater fish species found nowhere else in the wild. Protecting the lake has therefore been essential to securing the future of this remarkable species.

But the story of the bats offers another perspective.

Conservation rarely benefits just one species.

By protecting an ecosystem and restoring its natural processes, conditions can be created for many forms of life to recover. Forests regenerate. Habitats become safer. Wildlife finds space to return and thrive.

From four bats to an average of 610, the small island at the heart of Lake Tseny has become a powerful reminder of what long-term conservation can achieve.

Protecting Lake Tseny means protecting Damba Menarambo. But it also means safeguarding the wider web of life that depends on this ecosystem and giving nature the opportunity to recover, one species at a time.