Wetland Co-design, Knowledge, Engagement and Monitoring

East Africa - Kenya Wetlands

Wetland Co-design, Knowledge, Engagement and Monitoring

  • Our Objective

    Building a shared, inclusive strategy for protecting water, wetlands, and commons in Gambella by weaving together traditional knowledge, scientific expertise, and diverse community voices into collaborative governance and adaptive management.

  • Figures

    The project was launched on May 7, 2022 and is currently in progress.

Summary

This project creates the enabling environment for systemic transformation in the Gambella wetland by building a shared, inclusive strategy for water, wetland, and commons protection. It brings together traditional knowledge, scientific expertise, institutional voices, and the perspectives of men, women, elders, and youth to shape governance and management from the ground up.  

Through co-design and structured knowledge exchange, the project strengthens trust, fosters shared ownership, and helps develop innovative practices that improve ecological integrity while easing tensions between communities and wildlife. Youth participation introduces intergenerational perspectives and fresh approaches, while multi-stakeholder collaboration ensures that solutions are context-specific and broadly supported.  Ultimately, this project provides the coordination layer that makes all Gambella projects more coherent and effective, embedding learning, innovation, and adaptive management across the programme and amplifying the Wyss Academy's distinctive contribution in a landscape where many actors are active, but not always aligned. 

Project Connections

Timeline

  • The Wyss Academy for Nature, National Lands Commission and Partners Launch Kenya's First Dryland Natural Assets Inventory and Participatory Mapping Reports

    News July 8, 2026

    The Wyss Academy for Nature and the National Land Commission (NLC), in partnership with the, Centre for Training and Integrated Research in ASAL Development (CETRAD), the Laikipia Conservancies Association (LCA), Save the Elephants (STE) the County Governments of Isiolo, Laikipia and Samburu, and other stakeholders, have today launched Kenya's first Dryland Natural Assets Inventory and Participatory Mapping Reports, marking a major milestone in the governance, planning and protection of natural resources in the country's arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs). 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. 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. 

    Rock water catchment in Nakuprat location, Isiolo county
  • Exploring Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) Pathways in Laikipia, Isiolo and Samburu Counties in Kenya

    News June 5, 2026

    The event brought together 42 participants from community and private conservancies, government agencies, NGOs, and research institutions. Their shared purpose was to bridge national policy dialogues with the lived realities within landscapes, and to co-create pathways for inclusive, equitable conservation. In the end, participants devised next steps both at national and local level toward Kenya’s CBD 30x30 target.

    Several small groups seated at round tables in discussion in a workshop room; a participant in a Kenya jersey in the foreground.

Team

  • Project contact

    Dr. Boniface Kiteme
    Associated Senior Partner

    A person with glasses in a plaid shirt smiling and putting their hands forward
    Project contact