The Taita Hills have been the subject of many years of research. As part of the Eastern Arc Mountains where there is a high level of endemism, three species of birds call this particular mountain home and are found nowhere else in the world. Owing to its great conservation effort, this forest has now become a reserve where it is managed and protected.

The Taita Hills lie in south-eastern Kenya, south and west of Voi town, and rise abruptly above the semi-arid plains of Tsavo West National Park. These plains, at around 600-700 m altitude, isolate the hills from other mountains and highland blocks.

The closest of these are the Chyulu Hills and North Pares, about 70 km away, and Mount Kilimanjaro, Chawia, Ngangao and Mbololo (though managed by the Forest Department). The West Usambara mountains, with which the Taita Hills have some botanical affinities, are around 120 km distant.

The Taita Hills are divided into three main blocks. Sagalla Hill (peak 1,450 m), directly south of Voi, is separated from the rest of the hills by the Voi River on the plains. The main body of the hills, Dabida, lies 25 km north-west of Voi, including the high peaks

of Gangao (2,149 m) and Vuria (2,225 m). To the north-east of this range lies the massif of Mbololo (2,209 m), separated from the main block by a valley at about 900 m. Some 50 km to the south-east, and not included within this IBA, lies Mount Kasigau. The forest on this isolated peak has biogeographical affinities with the Taita Hills, but its fauna and flora are as vet little studied.