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.
