- The Aberdares are vital to Kenya – a unique montane forest ecosystem in a country where just over two percent of the land is still covered by closed canopy forest.
- It comprises 76,600 ha of National Park and 108,400 ha of Forest
- The Aberdares are among the five main ‘water towers’ of Kenya, forming a catchment area for dams supplying water to Nairobi City, the Athi-Galana-Sabaki River, the Ewaso Nyiro River, and the Malewa
- The Aberdare Mountains Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) in the central Kenya highlands forms part of the eastern escarpment of the Rift Valley.
- Over 300 bird species have been recorded, including the rare and globally threatened Aberdare Cisticola, Abbott’s Starling, Jackson’s Widowbird, and Sharpe’s Longclaw.
- Four out of seven of Kenya’s largest rivers rise in the
- The Aberdares have two main peaks: Ol Donyo Lesatima (3999 m) and Kinangop (3906 m), separated by a long ‘saddle’ of land above 3,000 m.
- The Aberdares Forest Reserve (103,300 ha) occupies the lower slopes, with three main blocks surrounding the Park, and Kipipiri Forest Reserve (5,100 ha) to the west.
- The Aderdare National Park (ANP) alone has over 770 species of vascular plants
- The forest zones have 63 endemic plant species, including Cissampelos friesiorum, Senecio margaritae, and Lobelia deckenii.
- The Aberdares ecosystem provides approximately KES 630 billion worth of ecosystem
- The Aberdares is home to 3,600 elephants, with a density of 1 elephants per square kilometer, representing nearly 10% of Kenya’s total elephant population.
- With less than 100 Mountain Bongos left in the wild, the Aberdares is home to 50, representing nearly 60% of the total population of this critically endangered species.
- On the foothills of the Aberdares, 30% of Kenya’s tea and 70% of its coffee area.
- Four million farmers depend on its rich soils and rainfall.
- The construction will destroy 75 hectares of bamboo, 14 hectares of montane forest, and an equal amount of moorlands.
- The Aberdares is a critical water catchment for millions of people, livestock, and wildlife across Kenya, supplying 80% of the water Nairobi City County uses through Sasumua and Ndakaini dams.
- It generates 55% of Kenya’s hydroelectric power.
- The proposed road will affect 255 acres, including bamboo, forest, and moorland, and a study found no socio-economic benefit in building the road.
- There’s no evidence that the proposed road reduces travel times to the market.
- Kenya is a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), obliging it to protect globally threatened species within its borders.