• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Map
• Reference and further resources

Site description (2001 baseline)
These montane grasslands lie on the Kinangop Plateau, a wide stretch of land bounded by the forests of the Aberdare mountains (IBA KE001) and Kikuyu Escarpment (KE004) to the east and south, and by a steep scarp dropping to the Rift Valley floor on the west. To the west and north, the IBA boundary follows the 2,400 m contour. Rainfall averages c.1,000 mm/year, but the southern part is wetter than the north, which lies in the rain shadow of the Aberdares. The landscape is generally flat, sloping gently upwards to the base of the Aberdare mountains, but dissected by valleys bearing streams that drain into the Malewa and Karati rivers (see Lake Naivasha, KE048). Originally, the entire plateau was covered with almost treeless, tussocky grassland, including many tussock bogs in the swampy valleys. Characteristic tussock grasses include Andropogon amethystinus, Cymbopogon nardus, Digitaria diagonalis, Eleusine jaegeri, Eragrostis botruodes, Hyparrhenia hirta, H. tamba and Pennisetum hohenackeri. Since the 1960s the area has been settled by the Kikuyu people, whose livelihood revolves around small-scale farming. Large areas of land have been ploughed for cultivation (mainly maize, wheat, cabbages and potatoes) or to remove the tussock grass species, which livestock find unpalatable. Woodlots of introduced trees, such as Eucalyptus globulus, Acacia mearnsii, Pinus radiata and Cupressus lusitanica, now dot the landscape. Many of the wetlands have been drained, directly or by planting water-thirsty exotic trees.

Key biodiversity
See Box and Table 2 for key species. This is probably the world stronghold of Macronyx sharpei, a threatened Kenya endemic. The species is confined to grassland, preferring short-grass fields with tussocks, and in good habitat occurs at densities of 0.8 individuals/ha. Cisticola aberdare is thought to occur in the higher parts of the plateau, close to the Aberdare mountains, but its status is uncertain. Circus macrourus occurs on passage. The grasslands support a distinctive avifauna that includes localized species such as Vanellus melanopterus, Cisticola ayresii, Euplectes jacksoni (a seasonal visitor, nesting in tussock grassland and at times in wheat fields) and E. progne (a regionally threatened species). Large numbers of Palearctic migrants use the area on passage, notably Falco subbuteo, Buteo buteo, Ciconia nigra, Apus apus, Merops apiaster, Motacilla flava and Oenanthe oenanthe.

Non-bird biodiversity: The fauna and flora of these grasslands have been little studied. Very few large wild mammals survive on the Kinangop, but many smaller species that are confined to highland grassland can be expected. The frogs Hyperolius montanus and Phrynobatrachus kinangopensis and the snake Bitis worthingtonii are recorded only in Kinangop and a few other sites in the Kenyan highlands. Hyperolius montanus was considered secure in 1980, but it is a montane grassland species and may now be under threat.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Kinangop grasslands (Kenya). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/kinangop-grasslands-iba-kenya on 22/12/2024.