Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
8
Mountain Tourism: The Case of
Mount Kenya
Irandu Evaristus M.
INTRODUCTION
The signifi cance of mountains as tourist destinations is
illustrated by
Ives
(1992)
who observes that mountains beckon as oases of spiritual calm and
peace, a place in which to commune with nature and to rediscover the
simple pleasures of life. Greenwood (2008) on the other hand highlights
another important aspect of mountains by arguing that mountains are
zones where the signals of global change are particularly clear. This is
attributed to their verticality. The vertical zonation of habitats in mountains
represents a gradual change of habitats from the Equator to the Poles
within a short distance between them. Mountains, therefore, represent
unique areas for the early detection of climate change and the assessment of
climate-related impacts. This is possible because as climate changes rapidly
with height over relatively short horizontal distances, so does vegetation
and hydrology (Whiteman 2000). As a result of their vertical zonation of
habitats, mountains exhibit high biodiversity, often with sharp transitions
in vegetation sequences, and equally rapid changes from vegetation and
soil to snow and ice (Fig. 8.1).
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