The government has created detailed maps and records of important natural resources in dry areas to help in their extraction and protection.
The first Dryland Natural Assets Inventory and Participatory Mapping Reports was launched on Thursday by the National Land Commission.
The documents were developed by NLC in partnership with the Wyss Academy for Nature, CETRAD, the
Laikipia Conservancies Association (LCA), the county governments of Isiolo,
Laikipia and Samburu.
The reports covering Isiolo, Laikipia and Samburu
counties constitute the first comprehensive, community-driven inventory and
spatial mapping of dryland natural assets in Kenya and are among the first
initiatives of their kind on the African continent.
Together, they provide an unprecedented evidence base
for integrating natural capital into land use planning, climate adaptation,
biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
Environment PS Festus Ng’eno said Kenya's drylands
occupy nearly ninety per cent of Kenya’s land area, yet these landscapes are
often misunderstood.
“Some see
empty spaces; we see opportunity. Some see harsh environments; we see
ecosystems that sustain millions of livelihoods, support biodiversity, store
carbon, regulate water systems and provide the foundation for pastoral
economies that have thrived for generations,” Ng’eno said.
His speech was read on his
behalf by Environment secretary Selly Kimosop.
The PS said
the landscapes of Samburu, Isiolo and Laikipia are among Kenya's greatest
environmental treasures.
“They are home
to globally significant wildlife, they support livestock production, sustain tourism,
preserve unique cultures and indigenous knowledge and increasingly, they are
becoming central to Kenya's climate resilience.”
He said
the same landscapes face growing pressure from population growth, competing
land uses, infrastructure expansion, land degradation, climate change and
increasing demand for natural resources.
Managing the competing interests without accurate information is like trying to
navigate unfamiliar terrain without a map, he said.
Ng'eno said the
report tells where the natural assets are located and help to understand their
condition, identify risks before they become crises, and provide government,
investors, communities and conservation partners with a common evidence base
for better decisions.
The inventories document thousands of critical
natural assets, including rivers, wetlands, springs, ponds, sand dams, wildlife
corridors, grazing routes, salt licks, islands of dense vegetation, cultural
heritage sites and other ecologically significant landscapes that sustain
livelihoods, biodiversity and local economies.
The mapping exercise employed an innovative participatory
approach that combined Geographic Information Systems (GIS), field surveys and
indigenous knowledge contributed by elders, women, youth, conservancies,
community leaders and technical experts.
The result is a rich, spatially accurate inventory
that captures both ecological value and cultural significance.
NLC chief executive Kabale Tache said the report helps to bring
together science, technology, public institutions and non-state actors and,
most importantly, communities in order to protect natural assets.
“These reports are therefore not simply
publications. They are the product of an extensive, inclusive and
evidence-driven process that bring together local communities, county
governments, national government agencies, researchers, conservation
organisations and development partners to identify, verify and map some of
Kenya's most critical dryland natural assets,” Tache said.
The commission firmly believes that
effective land governance must be informed by reliable data, she said.
NLC
chairman Abdillahi Saggaf Alawy said planning without reliable data
inevitably leads to conflict, environmental degradation and irreversible loss
of public resources.
“Planning based on sound evidence
creates resilience, certainty and shared prosperity,” he said.
The Isiolo county report
documents over 200 critical natural assets, including 594
water-related resources, among them 239 laggas, 134 ponds and 74 springs.
It also maps wildlife corridors, dry-season grazing areas and recognises
indigenous governance systems such as the Dedha resource management framework.
The Laikipia county
inventory identifies over 200 natural assets across all 15 wards,
including 590 springs, 220 wetlands, critical grazing landscapes
and more than 1,030km of wildlife migration corridors.
The report highlights growing
threats from climate change, invasive species, land degradation and competing
land uses.
The Samburu county report
maps more than 2,150 natural assets, including rivers, springs, swamps,
sand dams, salt licks, livestock routes, wildlife corridors and culturally
significant sites.
It identifies 108 wildlife
migratory pathways, reinforcing Samburu's importance as a key biodiversity
landscape.
Beyond documenting natural
resources, the reports provide practical guidance for integrating natural
assets into county spatial plans, land administration systems, community land
registration processes and national planning frameworks.
It recommends the gazettement
and legal protection of critical ecosystems and cultural sites and integration
of natural assets into national and county land cadastres.
It also recommends restoration
of degraded ecosystems through collaborative partnerships involving government,
communities, conservancies and the private sector and strengthening of
governance frameworks for sustainable management of dryland resources.
The report also recommends the replication
of the mapping model across Kenya's ASAL counties.
