Data Zone
Country/territory: Kenya
IBA criteria met: A1, A2, A3 (1999)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 87,000 hectares (870.00 km2)
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2023 | poor | high | medium |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2001 baseline)
Meru is a savanna National Park, 85 km east of Meru town in the north-eastern lowlands below the Nyambeni hills. The wetter north-western sector (rainfall c.700 mm/year) is hilly, with rich volcanic soils. The land flattens towards the east, where grey alluvial volcanic soils appear. This area is crossed by numerous permanent streams, draining from the Nyambenis and flowing in parallel between tongues of lava, south-eastwards towards the Tana river. There are several prominent inselbergs of basement rock, notably Mughwango and Leopard Rock. The vegetation on the ridges is Combretum-wooded grassland, dominated by Combretum apiculatum. This grades into Acacia wooded grassland to the east, with Acacia tortilis and A. senegal on the rocky ridges, in riverine thickets and dotted over open country, and Doum palms Hyphaene coriacea in the numerous swampy areas near the rivers. Chloris gayana is the dominant grass in many places, with Cyperus species in the swamps. The south and south-east (rainfall c.300 mm/year) is an open, semi-arid plain with red lateritic soil. This area is covered with rather uniform Acacia–Commiphora bushland, a hot, dense, thorny and inhospitable habitat. As well as the many streams that cross it, the park is bounded by three large rivers: the Tana to the south, the Ura to the south-west and the Rojeweru to the east. Riverine trees include the palms Raphia farinifera and Phoenix reclinata, Ficus sycomorus, Newtonia hildebrandtii, Acacia elatior and A. robusta. Along the Tana river is found the Tana River Poplar Populus ilicifolia. Meru is part of a complex of protected areas along the Tana river that includes the adjacent Bisanadi and North Kitui National Reserves (to the east and south, respectively), Kora National Park and Rahole National Reserve. These areas are better protected on paper than on the ground, however, and their birdlife (though generally little known) appears less rich than Meru’s.
Key biodiversity
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. The park’s avifauna is generally diverse, with around 280 species recorded. The threatened Turdoides hindei, which has a very restricted range in central Kenya, has recently been recorded, near Kindani and Nyati Camps in the south-west part of the park. Regionally threatened species include Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis (known to breed), Polemaetus bellicosus (status unknown), Podica senegalensis, Scotopelia peli and Phoeniculus granti.
Non-bird biodiversity: The park holds good populations of large mammals, including Loxodonta africana (EN), Acinonyx jubatus (VU) and Equus grevyi (EN; now practically confined to Kenya). Poachers have eliminated Diceros bicornis (CR) and the introduced Ceratotherium simum (LR/cd).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Meru National Park (Kenya). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/meru-national-park-iba-kenya on 22/12/2024.