This study assesses the ecological pressure exerted by changing land use and tenure on the Kitenden wildlife corridor, a critical cross‐border link between the Amboseli and Kilimanjaro national parks. The implications on viability of the two high‐value protected areas and their respective dispersal areas are both negative and serious. The extent of land use change and its impacts were assessed through household and vegetation surveys, while wildlife abundance was measured using transect walks. Approximately 30% of the study area has shifted from community to private land ownership over the last two decades. Except for baboon and vervet monkey, most wildlife avoided the cultivated area. Vegetation composition on the noncultivated area has been greatly altered by intense wildlife and livestock use, where mean herbaceous vegetation cover differed significantly among range‐plant categories (F3, 524 = 29.015, p < 0.05). The frequency of increaser I (21.4%) differs greatly from that of decreaser and forbs, at 8.3% and 7.4%, respectively Tree recruitment was low, with a significant difference in mean density among age classes (F2, 110 = 3.663, p < 0.05). Only through land leasing agreements between landowners and conservation organisations, and a widely supported land use plan, can the spread of cultivation be controlled and complete cessation of wildlife movement be prevented.

The failure to acknowledge major ecological trends underlies the continued disregard for functional connectivity in conservation planning (Balmford & Cowling, 2006; Goodwin & Fahrig, 2002). Negative impacts are particularly severe for species requiring large home ranges (Newmark, 1996, 2008) and those with special seasonal or life cycle needs (Kideghesho, Nyahongo, Hassan, Tarimo, & Mbije, 2006). This study evaluated herbaceous species as indicators of rangeland condition between Amboseli and the lower reaches of Mount Kilimanjaro, a vital connection corridor between two globally important protected areas (