Mount Elgon is far more than a mountain. It is a critical water tower, biodiversity refuge, agricultural landscape and source of livelihoods for communities across Kenya and Uganda. Its forests, wetlands, rivers and soils provide ecological services far beyond its slopes. Yet decades of deforestation, encroachment and unsustainable land use have placed parts of this remarkable ecosystem under growing pressure.
Its importance is also hydrological. Mount Elgon is a catchment for three major lake systems: Lake Victoria, Lake Turkana and Lake Kyoga. Its slopes feed the Nzoia, Turkwel (Suam), Kuywa, Sosio, Kibisi, Sio-Malaba-Malakisi, Lwakhakha, Toloso, Khalaba, Ndakaru, Ewaso-Rongai, Noigamaget and Sabwani river systems, among others. Nzoia flows into Lake Victoria, while Suam becomes the Turkwel, flowing towards Lake Turkana. The Malakisi and related Sio-Malaba-Malakisi system connects Mount Elgon to the wider Lake Victoria landscape.
There is much to applaud in the work already undertaken. @FAO, @Global Environment Facility, @World Bank, @Kenya Forest Service, @KALRO, @BirdLife International, @Nature Kenya, @Mount Elgon Trust, @Mount Elgon Foundation, @Kenya Wildlife Service, @East African Wild Life Society, @National Museums of Kenya, @IUCN, @UNDP and many other organisations, Community Forest Associations and local groups have, at different times, brought resources, expertise, research, advocacy and practical action to the landscape.
The current GEF-7 programme, implemented through FAO with KFS and KALRO, is targeting restoration of 10,000 hectares of degraded land and improved management across 50,000 hectares.
These efforts provide an important foundation. The opportunity now is to build on what has already been achieved rather than work in isolation. Mount Elgon needs a coordinated, long-term landscape restoration effort that brings government, communities, conservation organisations, researchers, businesses and funders together.
Mount Elgon matters to all of us. Its restoration is an opportunity for all of us to work together, build on the good work already under way, close the remaining gaps and secure this extraordinary ecosystem for generations to come.