It is an extensive area of montane grassland along the crest of the Mau Escarpment, which forms the western wall of the central Rift Valley in Kenya. It is 40,000 ha with an altitude of 2,700 - 3,100meters. This high, open plateau runs for 80 kilometers south-east to northwest, and is bounded on each side and partially interrupted by the forests of the Mau forest complex. Rainfall is 1,000 milimeters per year, and the original vegetation is short grassland, with some heather and scrub on the ridges where the soil is deeper. The area has high potential for cultivated agriculture, and has gradually been settled and cultivated since the 1950s and is now heavily populated, with a landscape severely modified by cultivation. Cereals are the major crops, and much grassland has been converted by ploughing and reseeding with exotic species to provide better grazing for sheep.

Key species here include Macronyx sharpei and Cisticola aberdare both known to occur, but their current status and distribution within the Important Bird Area are unknown. Falco naumanni is a formerly regular Palearctic passage migrant, and Gallinago media is an uncommon Palearctic winter visitor. The current status of Euplectes jacksoni is unknown. The restricted-range Francolinus jacksoni was formerly common at forest margins, and Cisticola hunteri is likely to be common in scrubby areas. The present-day avifauna is likely to be similar to that of the Kinangop Plateau on the opposite side of the Rift Valley. Regionally threatened species include Neotis denhami probably extirpated and Podiceps cristatus status unknown; may still breed on upland dams.