October 23, 2012 marks the official opening of the the Southern Tropical high altitude NDACC Maido Observatory in Reunion Island. After more than 15 years effort from CNRS-INSU, the Region and the University of Reunion Island, the construction of the Observatoire de Physique de l'Atmosphere (OPAR) was completed in July 2012. The lidars and FTIR instruments are being installed for the long term monitoring of the composition of the atmosphere.