MOUNT KENYA AND ITS ENVIRONS - A REVIEW OF THE INTERACTION BETWEEN MOUNTAIN AND PEOPLE IN AN EQUATORIAL SETTING

Until the beginning of this century Mount Kenya was a fairly undisturb ed equatorial mountain, but it is now recognized as a vital natural re source that influences all aspects of life around its volcanic slopes. Not only is it the source of water supplies for local people and live stock but it also provides abundant timber, rich soils, and excellent farmlands. The upper parts of the mountain still preserve the remnants of what were once more extensive tropical glaciers. The altitudinal z onation of vegetation makes it ideal for ethnobotanical studies and im portant for biodiversity, especially of tropical alpine flora. Therefo re, Mount Kenya deserves careful land-use management so that the rich resources will be sustained for perpetual use by future generations. T his paper assesses the impact of the dense and rapidly increasing huma n population that lives around the mountain.