Tana River colobus
Tana River colobus
(Colobus badius rufomitratus)
hirola
Hirola
(Beatragus hunteri)
Tana River mangabey
Tana River mangabey
(Cercocebus galeritus galeritus).
Photo courtesy of Julie Wieczkowski
Golden-rumped elephant shrew
Golden-rumped elephant shrew
(Rhynchocyon chrysopygus)

The Conservancy's project is located in a biodiversity hotspot convergence zone—where the coastal forests of Eastern Africa and Horn of Africa meet. Much of that area is comprised of Somali Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets. The coastal forests of Eastern Africa hotspot (shown in the rotating map above as the lower yellow circle), which includes portions of the Tana River north of the coast, has over 1,700 threatened endemic plants and animals, including three highly threatened monkey species and two species of bushbabies.

The coastal forests of Kenya are part of a forest mosaic that extends from the Kenya-Somalia border to the Tanzania-Mozambique border and serve as important repositories for endemic plants and animals:

The Horn of Africa biodiversity hotspot covers more than 1.5 million km² and is one of only two hotspots that is entirely arid. It is also one of the most degraded of all hotspots with only about 5 percent of the original habitat remaining. Livestock grazing is a major cause of degradation, followed by charcoal harvesting and political instability. This subregion has over 2,700 endemic plants and animals, including threatened antelopes, and more reptiles than anywhere in Africa. The bushlands of northeastern Kenya are found here.