This report assesses the status of biodiversity in the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Kenya and Tanzania (EACF) region against most of the 19 biodiversity monitoring indicators agreed upon by the stakeholders in the region. It uses information availed up to the end of 2008, and where possible comparisons made with past data to assess trends. This is done as part of an initiative geared towards instituting a standardised biodiversity monitoring system across the region. 2. Indicators are grouped in such a way that they assess STATE (changes in forest quality, cover, presence and abundance of threatened species, national legislation and ecosystem services), PRESSURE (changes in extraction intensity, human population and fire frequency) and RESPONSE (changes in forest management effectiveness, actions and research targeting key species and investment in the region) of the biodiversity in the EACF. 3. Forest disturbance data collected in 2005 and 2006 especially for Eastern Arc Mountain Forests is already showing clear differences in forest quality between differently-managed forest sites. It also provides useful baseline information for future monitoring of forest quality. For the few (6) sites where past comparative data exists, there is evidence of either stable (3 cases) or worsening (3 cases) forest quality in the past two to five years. Kaya Kinondo is probably one of the very few coastal forests where no disturbance was recorded over a long period - 13 years (1994-2007) of extensive field surveys. Further analysis shows that forest areas managed under joint and community-based forest management are recovering compared with forests managed by government alone, or under open access regimes. After 10 years of joint forest management implementation there is a dramatic decline in rates of cutting, indicating that participatory forest management is showing signs of delivering impact in terms of improved forest condition in Tanzanian forests at least. Forest health and condition measurements in parts of three areas of the Eastern Arc Mountains undertaken in 2000 and 2001 and re-measured in 2006 generally indicate that the measured trees were healthy. In one of the cases (Ngangao Forest in the Taita Hills) tree damages increased slightly over the survey period with stem decays constituting the most prominent symptom, but overall no significant change was found in this first re-measurement