From the Air to the Ground: Sharing Aerial Survey Data with Communities in Northern Kenya

On 21 April 2026, community leaders, conservancy representatives, government officials, and researchers gathered in Nanyuki for a data-sharing workshop convened by the Wyss Academy for Nature East Africa Hub. The event marked a key milestone in the Wyss Academy’s ID PES project - an interdisciplinary research initiative examining the impacts of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) and nature-based carbon interventions - returning landscape data directly to the communities whose lands were mapped and opening a conversation about how it can support restoration monitoring and land-use planning.

Led by Dominique Schmid, Catherine Machungo, Antony Wandera, and Lorenz Zeller, the workshop drew on an aerial survey covering approximately a quarter of Laikipia County and parts of adjacent Isiolo County, including the Naibunga, Oldonyiro, Maiyanat, and Shulmai community conservancies and the Gambela wetland. Conducted over 18 days in March 2025, the exercise generated more than 10 terabytes of high-resolution imagery capturing vegetation cover, land-use patterns, and ecological features across the landscape.

The workshop was designed as an interactive engagement. Participants examined large-format webmaps in breakout sessions led by ten appointed community data stewards, identifying familiar landmarks, rivers, grazing areas, homesteads, wildlife habitats, plant species - connecting the scientific data with their lived experience of the landscape.

The discussions were lively and grounded. Community leaders reflected on how prolonged dry spells and overgrazing leave soils exposed to erosion and emphasized the importance of restoring grass cover to maintain productive rangelands for both livestock and wildlife. Questions also arose around how the aerial data could contribute to carbon monitoring – researchers explained how the data can be used for quantification of the above ground carbon simply defined as the carbon stored in trees. The researchers  also noted that quantifying soil carbon from the aerial data across rangelands remains an active area of research. Invasive species such as opuntia cactus were flagged as a concern, with researchers pointing to complementary ground surveys and AI-based analysis as promising monitoring approaches

The survey will serve as a baseline against which future landscape change can be measured - tracking how vegetation cover, biomass, and other indicators evolve as restoration initiatives take hold. Community data stewards will retain access to the maps, ensuring that conservancy members can continue exploring and discussing the data within their communities.

By combining advanced remote sensing technology with deep community knowledge of the landscape, the workshop demonstrated how scientific data can be translated into practical tools for people managing community land resources - and how collaborative science can support more resilient rangelands in northern Kenya.