Tana River Delta Ramsar Site
The Tana River Delta Ramsar Site is a wetland on the Tana River protected under the Ramsar Convention located in the Coast Province of Kenya. It was gazetted as Kenya's 6th Ramsar Site.
The Tana River Delta is the second most important estuarine and river delta ecosystem in Eastern Africa, comprising a variety of freshwater, floodplain, estuarine and coastal habitats with extensive and diverse mangrove systems, marine brackish and freshwater intertidal zone, pristine beaches and shallow marine areas, forming productive and functionally interconnected ecosystems.
This diversity in habitats permits diverse hydrological functions and a rich biodiversity including coastal and marine prawns, shrimps, bivalves and fish, five species of threatened marine turtles and IUCN red-listed African elephant, Tana River mangabey, Tana River red colobus and White-collared Monkey. Over 600 plant species have been identified, including the endangered Cynometra lukei and Gonatopus marattioides.
Tana River delta is one of the only estuarine staging posts on the Asian–East African Flyway, it is a critical feeding and wintering ground for several migratory waterbirds such as waders, gulls and terns.
The main anthropogenic activities include fishing, small-scale family-oriented agriculture, mangrove wood exploitation, grazing, water supply, tourism and research.
The Tana River delta is also an Important Bird Area. In 2012 there was a proposal to establish a 65,000 ha Jatropha curcas plantation for biodiesel by the Canadian company Bedford, which generated a local conflict in the Tana River delta.