Between 5 and 13 April 2022, we ran first workshops with County Implementation Groups (CIGs) in Tana River and Isiolo Counties to promote and support the implementation of the Kenyan National Prosopis Strategy (NPS). These counties are both heavily invaded by Prosopis juliflora. The main goal of the workshops was to engage the CIGs in drafting provisional maps on which prosopis management objectives and preferred management practices are assigned to different areas of the County, depending on the current level of prosopis invasion or, in case an area has not yet been invaded, the likelihood of an imminent invasion.

During the workshop, representatives from different stakeholder groups, including County government, NGOs, Community-Based Organisations, Natural Resource Management Organisations and land users assessed the accuracy of the modelled map of the current distribution of prosopis in their County. They then added assets (e.g. dry season grazing areas) and threats (livestock migration routes) to the maps and jointly reflected on in which areas of the County prosopis invasion should be prevented, which invaded areas should be cleared from prosopis and in which areas prosopis invasion should be contained and assets protected.

Workshop participants were informed about the practices available for prosopis management and which practice can be applied at what stage of invasion and at what cost.

In a next step, the provisional maps produced during the workshops will be discussed with representatives from local communities across the counties to discuss the feasibility of implementing the suggested management practices. The feedback by the community representatives will be taken into account when the CIGs will revise the prosopis management maps and the set of recommended management practices during a second workshop later in the year.