The Shimba Hills National Reserve is a small National Reserve in the former Coast Province of Kenya, 33 km from Mombasa and 15 km from the coast.

It is an important area for plant biodiversity – over 50% of the 159 rare plants in Kenya are found in the Shimba Hills, including some endangered species of cycad and orchids.

This population is unsustainably high – it causes significant damage to vegetation, threatening the endangered plant life.

The remainder of the park boundary is fenced to prevent the elephants from invading farmland.

The Kenya Wildlife Service has plans to relocate up to 400 elephants from Shimba to Tsavo East National Park in 2005.