Data Zone
Country/territory: Kenya
IBA criteria met: A1 (2015)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 11,700 ha
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2022 | unfavourable | very high | high |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2001 baseline)
An area of natural landscape at the grassland-forest boundary, only 7 km from the centre of Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi. The park’s varied habitats include open, rolling grass plains, riverine woodland, valley thicket and bush, artificial dams and ponds, rocky gorges and upland dry forest. The park is fenced along three sides, where it is adjacent to urban housing, industry, roads and airports; only the southern border, along the Embakasi and Athi rivers, is open for animal dispersal. Ecologically, the park is intimately linked to the Kitengela and Athi-Kapiti plains, which adjoin it to the south, forming a single ecological unit. Being close to the city centre and supporting a variety of large mammals, this park is a popular destination and a substantial money-earner for the Kenya Wildlife Service.
Key biodiversity
See Box and Table 2 for key species. Nairobi National Park is an important roosting site for Falco naumanni flocks on passage (up to 5,000 have been recorded), although numbers have declined markedly in recent years. The substantial area of undisturbed grassland is of great importance for species such as the restricted-range Euplectes jacksoni, which breeds here regularly after good rains. The avifauna is diverse, with a remarkable 516 species recorded, including 27 of Kenya’s 94 Somali–Masai biome species (23 of which are regular), and 25 of Kenya’s 67 African Highland biome species. The globally threatened Crex crex is a scarce visitor from the Palearctic, and the Near Threatened Balaeniceps rex and Acrocephalus griseldis have both been recorded once. Ardeola idae is a regular non-breeding visitor (May–October) in small numbers, and Parus fringillinus is fairly common in riverine Acacia woodland. Regionally threatened species include Struthio camelus (common); Anhinga rufa (scarce visitor); Casmerodius albus (regular visitor to dams and ponds); Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis (resident in small numbers); Hieraaetus ayresii (scarce resident in the forest); Stephanoaetus coronatus (at least one pair nests in the forest); Polemaetus bellicosus (several pairs have home ranges that include the park); Podica senegalensis (resident in small numbers on thickly-fringed sections of the rivers); and Buphagus africanus (moderately common).
Non-bird biodiversity: Nairobi National Park has healthy populations of an array of large mammals. The park is a rhino sanctuary and numbers of Diceros bicornis (CR) are steadily increasing. Acinonyx jubatus (VU) also occur in good numbers. Several plants growing on the rocky hillsides are unique to the Nairobi area, including Euphorbia brevitorta, Drimia calcarata, Murdannia clarkeana and an undescribed Crassula sp. The park protects an important area of Croton–Brachylaena–Calodendron upland dry forest. This distinctive Nairobi forest-type exists now only as small, ever diminishing fragments.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Area factsheet: Nairobi National Park. Downloaded from
http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/nairobi-national-park-iba-kenya on 29/11/2023.
