Keta Lagoon Complex Ramsar Site
- Country:Ghana
- Site number:567
- Area:136,000 ha
- Designation date:14-08-1992
- Coordinates:05°56'N 00°50'E
Materials presented on this website, particularly maps and territorial information, are as-is and as-available based on available data and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
Overview
The Keta Lagoon Complex Ramsar Site is the largest lagoon in Ghana and consists of a large area of open brackish water, floodplain and marshland. The Site falls within the coastal savannah ecological zone of Ghana and its boundaries follow a catchment boundary and the Volta River to the west, which borders another Ramsar Site, the Songor Ramsar Site (no. 566) and Biosphere Reserve. Keta Lagoon is dominated by scrubland and extensive mangrove forest and is home to several species of rodents, Nile monitor lizards, African royal pythons, species of sea turtles, manatees, and invertebrates such as crabs and molluscs. It is the most important coastal wetland for birds in Ghana and supports over 72 species of resident and migratory birds with an estimated population of over 100,000 individuals. The Site supports the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people, some of whom extensively use mangrove firewood to smoke fish for sale. It is threatened by sea erosion and pollution as well as excessive mangrove wood harvesting.
Administrative region:
Volta Region
- Last publication date:08-05-2024
Downloads
Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS)
Site map
Additional reports and documents
- Site management plan