Figure 6.2 Map Showing the Extent of the Tana Delta Plan Buffer Zone
The Delta includes the whole of the River Tana Delta from the Primate Reserve to the sea and the higher ground (terraces) on either side within the boundaries of the main Malindi-Hola highway. It also includes an area of land lying to the north of the Garsen – Witu road which falls within the administrative area of Tana River County and a triangle of land extending from the WituKipini road to the sea which forms part of Lamu County. Within the Delta a distinction is made for planning purposes between the Upper Delta (lying between the Primate Reserve and the Garsen – Witu Road) and the Lower Delta (which extends from the Garsen – Witu Road to the sea) (See Plan 6.2). The Lower Delta has been defined broadly in line with the boundary of the Ramsar
TANA RIVER DELTA LAND USE PLAN
designation. The distinction between Upper and Lower Delta is not only based on topography, but the fact that much of the Upper Delta has been transformed by largescale cultivation. Whereas in contrast, two-thirds of the Lower Delta retains a natural character, albeit under increasing pressure from grazing and encroachment by semi-permanent cultivation. The Buffer Zone extends twenty kilometres beyond the boundaries to the Delta Core and includes dry thicket, rangeland and ephemeral river valleys (lagas) that are identical in character to the terraces. In practice there is little to differentiate any of this land that extends all the way to Tsavo East, and in a north-easterly direction to Ijara from the terraces.
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