The Tana River Delta in Kenya is an important wetland ecosystem that is home to diverse habitats and over 22 species of internationally important birds. It is a critical area for thousands of resident and migratory waterbirds, as well as a vital breeding and nursery ground for fish. The delta supports significant wildlife such as elephant, crocodile, hippo, and the rare East African coastal subspecies of topi. However, the delta is currently facing destruction from a major sugar cane project that would convert over 33,000 hectares of wetland. Conservationists are fighting to save the delta from this threat.

1. The Tana River Delta, one of Kenya’s
last coastal wildernesses, is the
floodplain ecosystem of the mighty Tana,
a river born on the slopes of Mt Kenya
that finishes its 1 014-kilometre journey in
the Indian Ocean. Its wetlands comprise
a mixture of salt, fresh and brackish lakes
and tributaries, riverine forest, woodland
and bushland, mangroves and extensive
grasslands.
This great diversity of intact habitats
and its vast expanse have made the
delta a globally important site for bird
conservation. Some 22 species of
international importance have been
recorded there and it is a critical foraging
and breeding ground for thousands of
resident and migratory waterbirds – earlier
this year, 15 000 waterbirds of 69 species
were counted in a single day. It is also
a vital breeding, spawning and nursery
ground for fish, and home for a significant
number of wildlife species – including
elephant, crocodile and hippo, and the
rare East African coastal subspecies of
topi Damaliscus lunatus topi.
Although few other places on earth have
elephants swimming across the mangrove
channels or lions roaming the beaches,
the delta is not formally protected and it
is currently facing destruction by a major
sugar-cane project, which is threatening
over 33 000 hectares of wetland. The
environmental and social implications are
significant, as the plantations will stretch
into the heart of the wetland, transforming
the delta’s abundant diversity into an
ecological desert.
According to Colin Jackson, the
director of A Rocha Kenya, an organi­
sation committed to the sustainable
use and conservation of endangered
habitats and species, important
questions still need to be addressed
concerning effluent released from the
sugar factory and the containment of
sewage and rubbish generated by the
large influx of workers from outside the
area. The local Orma pastoralists, who
have used the wetland as a grazing area
for their livestock for generations, are
opposed to the project, and elsewhere
in Kenya, sugar-cane has brought more
poverty than relief.
14 A F R I C A G E O G R A P H I C • d ece m b er 2 0 0 7 / j a n u ar y 2 0 0 8
Conservationists are fighting to save Kenya’s pristine Tana River
Delta, which is under threat from a sugar-cane factory.
Cheryl-Samantha Owen reports.
the sour side
of sugar
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environmentalist
of the year
Andrew Muir, executive director of the
Wilderness Foundation, was named
Environmentalist of the Year and received
the Nick Steele Memorial Award for his
work, at the 2007 SAB Environmentalist
and Environmental Journalist of the Year
Awards. During his 20-year career, Muir has
raised over US$30-million for conservation
and social development programmes
and has been very effective in using wild
habitats has a context for both social and
environmental reform. Programmes that
he initiated have impacted on nearly
100 000 South Africans, mostly from
previously disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Tana River Delta is an important
wetland for birds, a vital breeding,
spawning and nursery ground for fish,
and home to a significant number of
wildlife species.
margot muir

cheryl-samantha owen