| Lake Nakuru has a surface area of 17 square miles (44 square kilometers) and covers a third of the national park of the same name created in 1968. It is home to over 400 species of birds including Lesser Flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor) and Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) of which there are 1.4 million on the site. Like other alkaline lakes along the Rift Valley, its location on a permeable volcanic substrate, its low water supply, its intense evaporation and its average depth of 3 feet (1 meter) explains the high sodium carbonate levels. These alkaline waters encourage the proliferation of blue-green algae, microorganisms and small crustaceans that make up most of what flamingos eat. However, the region’s deforestation, chemical products used in the adjacent fields and waste water from the nearby town of Nakuru, have gradually deteriorated the quality of the water to the detriment of the plant life, wildlife and neighboring population. Since 1990, Lake Nakuru has been considered an Internationally Important Wetland under the Ramsar Convention.
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