Tana River Delta a Wetland of International Importance - Kenya

Tana River Delta via www.ramsar.org

The Tana River Delta in Kenya, which includes part of Lamu County, has been officially designated as a Wetland of International Importance by the Kenyan government. According to the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on wetlands, the Delta covers 163,600 hectares, is an Important Bird Area in Coast Province, and is the “second most important estuarine and deltaic ecosystem in Eastern Africa.” The delta comprises a variety of freshwater, floodplain, estuarine and coastal habitats with extensive and diverse mangrove systems, marine brackish and freshwater intertidal areas, pristine beaches and shallow marine areas, forming productive and functionally interconnected ecosystems. Kenya presently has six Ramsar Sites, covering an area of 265,449 hectares.

Read more about the Tana River Delta's new designation here. Learn more about the Ramsar Convention here.