Soil Sampling & Vegetation Cover Phase 5 ongoing

As part of the LCA Landscape Restoration Program, soil and vegetation cover sampling officially began in April. The goal is to establish baseline soil health data that will guide rangeland restoration and inform future land management decisions across Laikipia’s conservancies.

What Has Been Done So Far

The field teams have been carrying out:

• Water Infiltration Testing – to measure how well soils absorb and retain water.

• Soil Sampling – to assess nutrient levels, structure, and overall health.

• Vegetation Transects – to track plant diversity, cover, and regeneration potential.

Between 1st and 21st August, sampling was conducted across six conservancies:

• Solio (1 cluster)

• Enasoit (1 cluster)

• Olenaishu (3 clusters)

• Borana (3 clusters)

• Loldaiga (3 clusters)

• Mayianat (4 clusters)

This brought the total to 19 conservancies and 62 clusters sampled since the exercise started in April.

What’s Next

The exercise now moves into Phase 5, targeting:

• Ilngwesi, Lekuruki, Shulmai, Mukogodo Forest, Naibunga Upper, Central and Naibunga Lower conservancies, Tumaren and Olentile Sanctuary