The contribution made by stone quarrying to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in many countries globally is enormous. Whether small or large-scale, stone quarrying is inherently disruptive and can cause detrimental effects on the fragile riparian vegetation. This research therefore, aimed at determining the status of riparian vegetation between 2000- 2023 along river Molo and establishing the effects of stone quarry works on riparian vege-tation. A descriptive survey design was adopted where 404 household heads were randomly sampled from a total of 35,545 households in Visoi, Soin and Mosop wards. 15 key informants were purposively sampled for interviews. Questionnaires, interview schedules and Geographical Information System (GIS) and Remote sensing (RS) instruments were used in data collection. The obtained data was analyzed using SPSS (Version 25), ArchMap and remote sensing (time series) to analyze changes in riparian vegetation using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). The findings revealed a significant decline in riparian vegetation attributed to land use changes driven by poor agricultural practices and quarrying activities. The five purposively selected quarries were found to be located between 49 - 330 meters away from the river, where one was abandoned with no sign of reclamation, thus directly affecting the health and integrity of the riparian vegetation. It was also noted that massive heaping of quarry overburden and deep excavation accelerated felling of trees, reduced natural regeneration and increased soil erosion. These findings will be useful to inform the best quarrying practices to reduce detrimental impacts on riparian vegetation and a foundation for policy development in quarrying sector at county and national level.

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