The Cherang'any Hills are a range of hills in the western highlands of

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. The hills are one of Kenya's five main forests and catchment areas. The highlands, the large central plateau, is divided by the

Mau Escarpment The Mau Escarpment is a fault scarp running along the western edge of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. The top of the escarpment reaches approximately 3,000 m (10,000 ft) above sea level, and is over 1,000 m higher than the floor of ...

which rises from the border with

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

up to the Cherang'any Hills. The escarpment bounds the

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

that rises to the slopes of

Mount Elgon Mount Elgon is an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya, north of Kisumu and west of Kitale. The mountain's highest point, named "Wagagai", is located entirely within Uganda.

. The Cherangany Hills span three counties namely Trans Nzoia, Elgeyo Marakwet and West Pokot. The highest point of the range is the summit of Nakugen at 3530 m, which can be ascended from the south from a parking space at a Kenyan Wildlife Service station, located at . Other notable peaks include; Chemnirot (3520 m), Kameleogon (3500 m), Chebon (3375 m), Chepkotet (3370 m), Karelachgelat (3350 m) and Sodang (3211 m). They are home to a marginalized hunter-gatherer community called the Sengwer.

Geology

The Cherang'any Hills were formed due to Faulting. They form the western flank of the Gregory Rift Valley (East African Rift Valley) that stretches from Djibouti in the North to Mozambique in the South. They are located on a forested

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

with sheer cliff walls surrounding them on three sides. Rocks found in Cherangani Hills are majorly Gneisses rich in Biotite and Muscovite. A Gneiss sample from Chepsiro, one of the smaller peaks of Cherangani was found to be containing Iron Ore. White Quartzite rocks are found in Lelan in West Pokot. Other minerals that have been recorded before by Geologists in Cherangani Hills include Red Garnets near Talau in West Pokot and Beryl in Sebit. Chromite has also been found by Geologists in the colonial era. The Cheranganyi Hills are a source to River Moiben and Chepkaitit, the Major Tributaries of River Nzoia. Visible are forested ridges and stark, rocky gorges. The hills form the source of Moiben River, one of the two tributaries of the Nzoia River, the other being

Ecology

The Cherang'any Hills are monitored by the United Nations Environmental Programme as one of the five most important water

catchment A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, th ...

areas in Kenya. As of the last report, monitoring the change in forestation between 2000 and 2003, the Cherang'any Hills were the least affected of the forests monitored, with 174.3 hectares deforested, this loss is occurring within Marakwet District and West Pokot District. Since this forest cover is

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

, the report recommends that the area be closely watched to prevent further destruction. The thirteen forest reserves there are collectively known as the Cherangani Hills Forest. The

De Brazza's monkey De Brazza's monkey (''Cercopithecus neglectus'') is an Old World monkey endemic to the riverine and swamp forests of central Africa. The largest species in the guenon family, it is one of the most widespread arboreal African primates. Aside from ...

has been sighted here. The monkeys are confined to small areas in the Cherang'any Hills that offer them little protection.

References

Mountain ranges of Kenya Great Rift Valley {{Kenya-geo-stub

Geology

Ecology

See also

References