ISSN 2073-5111(Print) 
Bringing the Tana Delta Land Use Plan 
to action 
Herdsmen at the Tana River Delta. PHOTO: courtesy birdufe 
Hr By S. zV, J". ’dipt atm and dj ■ Oder a 
T he Tana River Delta (130,000 
ha) is one of the most 
important wetlands in Africa. 
It lies on the Kenya coast between 
Malindi and Lamu.The delta is the 
second most important estuarine 
and deltaic ecosystem in Eastern 
Africa and a Key Biodiversity Area. 
Recognition of the delta as an 
Important Bird and Biodiversity Area 
(IBA) and a designated Ramsar site 
further underscores the ecological 
importance of this ecosystem. 
(A Ramsar Site is a wetland site 
designated of international 
importance under the Ramsar 
Convention.) 
The delta supports a number of 
endangered primate, marine turtle 
and plant species as well as rare 
fish, amphibians and reptiles. A vast 
number of migratory and resident 
waterbirds are dependent on 
seasonally flooded grasslands and 
Borassus palm savannah that covers 
some 70,000 ha in the heart of the 
Tana Delta. The delta's mangrove 
forests provide important spawning 
grounds and nurseries for fish and 
shellfish. 
The delta is also a source of 
livelihood for communities, 
providing dry season grazing 
areas, fertile farmlands and rich 
fishing grounds. Despite its 
immense importance, the delta is 
threatened by resource use conflict 
between pastoralism, farming and 
conservation. 
Nature Kenya in 2011 led a 
collaborative effort of various 
stakeholders in the development 
of a Tana River Delta Land Use Plan 
that was guided by a Strategic 
Environmental Assessment. The 
process was concluded in 2015. 
The land use plan has since been 
approved and adopted as a policy 
by the Lamu County government. 
In May 2016, the Tana RiverDelta 
Land Use Plan won the Royal Town 
Planning Institute's International 
Award for Planning Excellence. 
The land use plan seeks to 
promote a balance in the use of the 
delta. It involves regulated access, 
wise use and improved rangeland 
management that will lead to 
improved sustainable livelihoods, 
security and equity, and biodiversity 
conservation. The success of the 
award-winning land use plan 
is dependent on its effective 
implementation. Implementation 
includes enhanced capacity of 
government, communities and 
the private sector to drive policy 
change, and to balance the rights, 
responsibilities and benefits of 
sustainable land management and 
conservation. 
Nature Kenya has now moved to 
the implementation phase of the 
Tana Delta Land Use Plan.This is 
made possible with funding from 
the Darwin Initiative for a project 
called "Balancing water services 
for development and biodiversity 
in the Tana-Delta". The four-year 
project started in April 2017 and 
will end in March 2021. It promotes 
the Community Conservation Areas 
(CCAs) approach which is perhaps 
the most practicable way in which 
Kenya's vast natural resources can 
be conserved and a pathway out 
of poverty for the poorest of the 
population. This approach puts 
Kenya on course to deliver both 
key articles of the Convention on 
Biological Diversity and also many of 
the Sustainable Development Goals. 
The project's overall objective 
is to support 45 villages and two 
County Governments to balance 
water use for development and 
biodiversity by establishing a 
community conservation area of 
over 95,200Ha at the Tana River 
Delta. The desired outcome is to 
demonstrate how communities and 
county governments can use natural 
resource governance to reduce 
conflict amongst communities and 
conserve biodiversity. Key activities 
for the project include an ecosystem 
services assessment for the CCA, 
livelihoods activities targeting 200 
households within the CCA, and 
establishment of a community led 
governance structure for the CCA. 
Conservation areas within the CCA 
will be identified and management 
plans developed in consultation 
with all stakeholders.The project 
also seeks to explore sustainable 
financing options to generate 
carbon-credits and expand incipient 
ecotourism ventures to complement 
the Tana River and Lamu County 
Governments' revenues. 
The project will directly benefit 
35,000 and indirectly benefit 
120,000 people dependent on the 
Tana Delta. In the long term it will 
benefit 1.12 million people, as the 
Government of Kenya plans to 
replicate the Land Use Plan process 
atYala Swamp, Lake Naivasha, Lake 
Turkana, and the Nyando and Nzoia 
River Basins. 
The project implementation 
partners include the Tana Delta 
Conservation Network (TDCN) and 
Tana Planning Advisory Committee 
(TPAC), who are local beneficiaries. 
These two partners act as grassroots 
agents for change towards 
sustainable land management; and 
also the 'voice of communities' for 
engaging and negotiating with 
the county governments, national 
government and other partners. 
Other local partners include 
Community Forest Associations 
(CFAs), Water Resource Use 
Associations (WRUAs) and Beach 
Management Units (BMUs). & 
