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Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
This area comprises montane forest, wooded grassland, bamboo and alpine moorland on the eastern slopes of Mount Elgon, Kenya’s second-highest mountain. Mount Elgon lies c.140 km north-east of Lake Victoria and is bisected by the Kenya/Uganda border. It is an ancient, eroded volcano with a huge caldera and, on its summit, the spectacular flat-topped basalt column known as Koitobos. Another unique feature of the mountain is the ‘lava tube’ caves, some over 60 m wide and frequented by elephants (and other animals) digging for salts. The mountain soils are red laterite, and rainfall is c.1,200 mm on the mid-slopes. The vegetation is zoned by altitude, with wet montane forest dominated by
Olea capensis and
Aningeria adolfi-friedericii grading into
Olea–Podocarpus falcatus forest, a zone of mixed
Podocarpus and bamboo
Arundinaria alpina,
and the
Hagenia abyssinica zone with giant heath
Erica arborea and
E. trimera elgonensis. Afro-alpine moorlands occupy the highest parts of the mountain, with tussock grasses such as
Festuca pilgeri, bogs of
Carex runssoroensis, giant groundsels and giant lobelias.
Open wooded grassland with
Erythrina and
Combretum covers part of the lower, drier north-eastern slopes. Mount Elgon National Park (16,900 ha, gazetted in 1968) covers a narrow transect up the north-eastern slopes of the mountain, from lower montane forest to the caldera edge. The remaining forest and moorland (73,000 ha) is part of Mount Elgon Forest Reserve. The north-eastern wooded grassland (c.5,000 ha) is unprotected. The Ugandan side of the mountain, above c.2,000 m, is protected within Uganda’s Mount Elgon National Park. Mount Elgon is an important water catchment for the Nzoia river, which flows into Lake Victoria, and for the Turkwel river, which flows into Lake Turkana (IBA KE028).
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. The globally threatened, restricted-range
Macronyx sharpei is local and uncommon on the moorland (where it has been collected at 3,400 m). Other restricted-range species are
Cisticola hunteri, which is common above 3,500 m, and
Francolinus jacksoni known from just one sight record. Mount Elgon has a rich montane avifauna. The wooded grasslands on the north-eastern side hold a number of unusual birds, including the Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome species that all have very restricted ranges in Kenya. Nineteen of Kenya’s 43 Guinea–Congo Forests biome species have been recorded, although as many as 10 of these may now be extinct. Regionally threatened species include
Gypaetus barbatus,
Stephanoaetus coronatus (resident in small numbers),
Francolinus streptophorus (very scarce),
Sarothrura affinis (scarce resident),
Bubo capensis;
Glaucidium tephronotum (uncommon),
Indicator conirostris (uncommon),
Phyllastrephus baumanni (may be extinct),
Kakamega poliothorax (may be extinct),
Sheppardia polioptera (uncommon) and
Campephaga quiscalina (uncommon).
Non-bird biodiversity: Among mammals, the rare Felis aurata has been recorded in this forest, but its status is unknown, and Loxodonta africana (EN) and Tragelaphus eurycerus (LR/nt; declining and uncommon in Kenya) occur. There is a distinctive endemic subspecies of Tragelaphus scriptus heterochrous, and several endemic small mammals, including Crocidura elgonius (VU), Tachyoryctes ruddi and Mus sorella. The frog Anthroleptides dutoiti (EX) is known only from one specimen collected from the Koitobos river on Mount Elgon in 1980. Notable alpine plants include Senecio johnstoni elgonensis, Lobelia deckenii elgonensis, Lobelia cheranganiensis, Alchemilla elgonsis, A. microbetula and Helichrysum amblyphyllum, all of which are endemic or near-endemic to Mount Elgon.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The Mount Elgon forest has suffered severely from encroachment on the lower slopes: very little lower-altitude forest remains, and a number of forest bird species formerly known from below 2,000 m are almost certainly extinct. The forests contain valuable timber, in particular
Olea capensis. Illegal timber extraction and (more recently) licensed commercial logging by Rai-Ply, an Eldoret-based company, have done tremendous damage to the forest structure. The recent, apparently uncontrolled devastation of substantial areas by a commercial concern has been severe enough to spark protests and demonstrations by those living around the forest. Mount Elgon faces similar management problems to most other forests in Kenya, with the Forest Department finding difficulties in controlling fuelwood collection, fires set by honey hunters, collection of poles, debarking of medicinal trees, and forest grazing. The moorland has also suffered damage from fires set during drought periods, though there is evidence that some of the vegetation communities there are fire-maintained. The wooded grasslands on the north-east are an unprotected and undervalued habitat whose special birds are in imminent danger of disappearing, as expansion of cultivation and destruction of habitat continue apace. The mountain lies across the international border, which has made it difficult to control the poaching of large animals on the Kenyan side, and organized smuggling has at times created a security problem, deterring visitors to the National Park. This is unfortunate, because the mountain has many attractions. The moorland and peaks have great scenic beauty, the caves and their elephant visitors are fascinating, and a wide range of mammals, birds and vegetation can be seen during a short visit. Surveys are needed to: establish the status of
Macronyx sharpei on the moorland, and the effects of seasonal burning on this species; map out the wooded grassland and assess the populations of Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome species; and assess the current status of all the forest birds. In the meantime, commercial logging in the forest should cease. An integrated management plan for Mount Elgon is needed that will take into account the conservation requirements of all its habitats, develop the mountain’s enormous potential for ecotourism, and put the interests of local people and sustainable use of resources above destructive, short-term exploitation. An IUCN-managed conservation and development project is presently starting to address these concerns.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mount Elgon (Kenya) (Kenya). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mount-elgon-(kenya)-iba-kenya on 22/12/2024.
