Restoring Laikipia’s Rangelands: 9,036 Semi-Circular Bunds Completed in Naibung’a Conservancies

In partnership with the Wyss Academy for Nature, LCA has concluded a highly successful rangeland restoration program across the Naibung’a Conservancies  marking a major step toward ecosystem recovery and sustainable land management.

The initiative began with an intensive three-day training for supervisors and community diggers from Naibung’a Central, Upper, and Lower, focusing on the design, excavation, and reseeding of semi-circular bunds (SCBs)  a proven dryland restoration technique. Each bund, measuring six meters in diameter, was geotagged with GPS coordinates for monitoring.

The restoration covered nine community sites:

• Naibung’a Central: Musul, Kijabe, and Nkiloriti

• Naibung’a Upper: Ilpolei, Murupusi, and Munishoi

• Naibung’a Lower: Tiamamut, Koija, and Ilmotiok

Over several weeks, 588 local participants  including diggers, supervisors, technicians, cooks, and motorbike riders collaborated to dig and reseed 9,036 SCBs, exceeding the initial target of 9,000. This work not only restored degraded rangelands but also provided vital short-term income to households within the participating communities.

With the onset of the October–December rains, these bunds will significantly improve soil moisture retention, vegetation regeneration, and pasture quality for livestock and wildlife. The restoration also supports local livelihoods and enhances ecosystem resilience across the Naibung’a landscape.

The use of Survey123 digital monitoring tools helped streamline supervision and ensure consistency in the quality of work a crucial step toward building data-driven, transparent, and efficient restoration systems.

“The success of this restoration effort shows the power of collaboration communities, conservancies, and partners working together for healthy rangelands and better livelihoods,” noted the LCA restoration team.

This initiative forms part of LCA’s broader landscape restoration agenda, which aims to scale up community-led ecological recovery, promote regenerative grazing practices, and position Laikipia as a model for sustainable land stewardship in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid ecosystems.