Officials from the National Land Commission, the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, Wyss Academy for Nature, CETRAD, county governments and development partners display the Dryland Natural Assets Inventory and Participatory Mapping Reports for Isiolo, Samburu and Laikipia counties during the launch at a Hotel, Nairobi, on July 9, 2026.
NAIROBI, July 9, 2026 — The National Land Commission (NLC), in partnership with the Wyss Academy for Nature, the Centre for Training and Integrated Research in ASAL Development (CETRAD), county governments and local communities, has launched the Dryland Natural Assets Inventory and Participatory Mapping Reports for Isiolo, Samburu and Laikipia counties alongside the Guidelines for Participatory Natural Assets Mapping in Drylands to enhance sustainable land governance, biodiversity conservation and climate resilience.
The reports provide the first comprehensive inventory and spatial mapping of critical natural assets across the three counties, including rivers, wetlands, springs, wildlife corridors, grazing reserves, forests, rock catchments, salt licks and other ecologically significant landscapes that support livelihoods, biodiversity and economic development.
Speaking during the launch in Nairobi, Selly Kimosop, Environment Secretary at the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, who represented Principal Secretary Dr. Eng. Festus Ng’eno, said Kenya’s drylands occupy nearly 90 per cent of the country’s land area and remain vital for pastoral livelihoods, wildlife conservation, tourism, food security and climate resilience.
She said the reports provide reliable information that will enable government, investors, researchers, conservation partners and communities to make informed decisions on sustainable land management.
“Evidence-based planning is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity. The reports we launch today are practical tools that support county spatial planning, strengthen environmental governance, guide sustainable investments, improve land-use planning and help reduce conflicts over natural resources by providing shared information that all stakeholders can rely upon,” she said.
Kimosop commended the collaboration between the National Land Commission, Wyss Academy for Nature, CETRAD, county governments, researchers and local communities, saying the partnership had demonstrated that conservation outcomes are strengthened when institutions and communities work together.
“The mapping process was participatory. Communities became partners in generating knowledge. When scientific evidence and indigenous wisdom work together, our decisions become stronger, more inclusive and more sustainable,” she added.
National Land Commission Chairperson Dr. Abdillahi Saggaf Alawy said the reports mark a significant milestone in Kenya’s efforts to safeguard its natural heritage through informed land governance and responsible stewardship of natural resources.
He said the reports identify, document and map natural assets that sustain livelihoods across Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands, providing the evidence required to guide land administration, county spatial planning and sustainable investment.
“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,” Alawy said.
He noted that the reports build on the Kenya Natural Resources Atlas by moving beyond a national inventory to detailed, community-driven documentation of natural assets at the county level through the integration of indigenous knowledge and modern geospatial technologies.
“These reports should not remain documents on shelves but become practical tools that guide land administration, policy formulation, investment decisions and natural resource governance across our country,” he added.
Chairperson of the National Land Commission’s Land Administration and Management Committee Commissioner Vincent Kigen described the reports as a landmark achievement in strengthening land administration and natural resource governance.
He said Kenya has made considerable progress in documenting land ownership but had not devoted similar attention to documenting natural assets that sustain communities, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions.
“How do we protect what we have never documented? The answer is straightforward we cannot. These reports provide the documentation needed to safeguard our natural assets within land administration systems before development permanently compromises them,” Kigen said.
He added that the reports are not merely environmental publications but land governance tools that will support evidence-based planning, reduce resource-based conflicts and promote sustainable land use as community land registration and infrastructure development continue across northern Kenya.
Representing the three pilot counties, Laikipia County Executive Committee Member for Water, Environment, Natural Resources, Wildlife and Climate Change Leah Njeri welcomed the reports, describing them as practical planning tools that will help counties strengthen conservation and development planning.
“This report gives us a planning tool that we are committed to using. We will ensure our wildlife corridors are protected so that people and wildlife can continue to coexist peacefully,” she said.
Njeri said the findings would support the development of county wildlife policies, improve environmental planning and enhance preparedness for climate-related challenges while promoting accountability in the management of natural resources.
The reports document hundreds of natural assets across Isiolo, Samburu and Laikipia counties, including perennial rivers, ponds, springs, wetlands, rock catchments, wildlife corridors, grazing reserves, livestock routes, forests, dense vegetation and natural salt licks.
They also identify threats such as climate change, land degradation, encroachment, land fragmentation, infrastructure expansion and increasing competition over natural resources, while providing Kenya’s first standard methodology for participatory natural assets mapping to guide similar initiatives in other arid and semi-arid counties.
Stakeholders called for the integration of the reports into county spatial plans, community land registration, environmental conservation programmes and national development planning, saying the initiative provides an important foundation for protecting Kenya’s natural heritage while promoting sustainable development and climate resilience.
