INTRODUCTION: Mount Elgon is identified by the East African Community (EAC) and partner states (Kenya and Uganda) as a transboundary ecosystem that needs to be managed through a regional programme of conservation and sustainable development. Accordingly, the Mt. Elgon Regional Ecosystem Conservation Programme (MERECP) was developed in response to the need for a regional approach to the management of this important transboundary ecosystem as a water catchment for Lake Victoria, the Nile River and Lake Turkana.

MERECP was conceived in response to the conservation and development needs of the Mt. Elgon ecosystem and then designed by IUCN over a period of almost four years (2000 - 2004) that involved many local, national and regional discussions and the interaction of a range of stakeholders including the East African Community Secretariat, governments of Kenya and Uganda through the relevant national government agencies, local government /districs, user groups, NGOs, private sector, local communities and concerned conservationists and researchers. Through these processes, it was agreed that MERECP should be a truly regional programme, not one that is just two national projects added together, but a programme for the good of the ecosystem and the ecosystem users and inhabitants.

Vision: The overall vision for Mt. Elgon ecosystem is : A secure and productive Mt. Elgon Ecosystem. This vision is a description of the future desired state or condition for the Mt. Elgon ecosystem. More