12 October 2012: The Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention) has reported that the Government of Kenya has designated the Tana River Delta as a Wetland of International Importance.

According to the Ramsar Secretariat, the Tana River Delta Ramsar Site is the second most important estuarine and deltaic ecosystem in Eastern Africa, which supports a variety of coastal and marine plant and animal species, including five species of threatened marine turtles and IUCN red-listed African elephant. The site also provides feeding and wintering ground for several migratory waterbirds. Activities carried out on the site include fishing, small-scale family-oriented agriculture, mangrove wood exploitation, grazing, water supply, tourism and research.

Kenya’s designation contributes to one of the goals contained in the Ramsar Convention’s Strategic Plan for 2009-2015, which is to reach a protected area of 250 million hectares by 2015. [Ramsar Press Release]