A Guide To South Nandi Forest

South Nandi Forest area is a mid-elevation forest enjoying rainfall as high as 1,600 to 1,900 mm/year depending on altitude. The forest is drained by the Kimondi and Sirua rivers, which merge to form the Yala river. River Yala is one of the most important rivers flowing into lake Victoria
This area is a mid-elevation forest lying just west of Kapsabet town and south of the main Kapsabet–Kaimosi road. South Nandi was once contiguous with Kakamega forest (IBA KE058) and the two forests are still no more than a few kilometres apart at their closest points. Rainfall is high, 1,600–1,900 mm/year depending on altitude. The forest is drained by the Kimondi and Sirua rivers, which merge to form the Yala river flowing into Lake Victoria. The landscape is gently undulating and under lain by granitic and basement complex rocks, which weather to give deep, well-drained, moderately fertile soils. The South Nandi area has high agricultural potential and human densities around it are also high, particularly to the west. Biogeographically, South Nandi is often considered an eastern extension of Kakamega. However, it is higher in altitude than Kakamega and floristically less diverse. In effect, South Nandi is transitional between the lowland forests of West and Central Africa (the easternmost outlier of which is Kakamega) and the montane forests of the central Kenya highlands. Common trees include Tabernaemontana stapfiana, Macaranga kilimandscharica, Croton megalocarpus, C. macrostachyus, Drypetes gerrardii, Celtis africana, Prunus africana, Neoboutonia macrocalyx and Albizia gummifera. South Nandi was gazetted in 1936 as a Trust Forest covering 20,200 ha, since when c.2,200 ha have been excised for settlement, c.340 ha planted with tea, and 1,400 ha planted with exotic tree species. Of the remaining area, at most c.13,000 ha is closed-canopy forest, the rest being scrub, grassland or cultivation.

South Nandi Forest Contacts

Attraction Type: Scenery & Landscapes, Wildlife
Category: Forest, Lake or River, Birding Site
Region: North Rift
City / Town: Kipsigak
Road / Street: Kipsigak Serem Rd
Telephone: 254 20 239 6440
254 715 735555
Email: info@kenyaforestservice.org
Entrance Fee: Yes

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