Youth group utilises drone technology in water tower restoration

This comes after a year-long training and piloting program that has seen 18 youths between 24 and 30 graduate and licenced for professional drone flying.

In Kiebor area, Keiyo South in Elgeyo Marakwet County, the teams fly drones a distance of 20kilometres to observe whether their recommendations on restoring a water tower riparian cover has been implemented.

Kipsalen water tower is streams on a private riparian land. The stream is a key water source to river Sabor that flows from Kaptarakwa to Eldoret and environs.Human activities have sent the Catchment to its possible deathbed.

Mzee Edwin Baraoi, who inherited a family land has done much to bring back to life the stream. Unfortunately his 7 years old Cypress plantion along the stream has been doing more harm than good.

"Cypress draws a lot of water from this water source, making the situation here worse,we advised and provided that farmer with indigenous and tree species which conserve or take less water," said Mr.Allan Tuwei, knowledge management officer in the drone group.

The group’s assignment is to monitor from a distance to see if the farmer has started the seedlings planting process.

29-year-old Ruth Kimitei, who studied supply chain management at an Eldoret based college learnt of the community youth drone training program in June 2023.

The mother of two resigned from her work to embrace technological environmental restoration and conservation.

“When I informed my husband that I was leaving work to join the drone conservation training program, he was adamant about my decision, but with time he has become supportive," attested Kimitei.

She has a date with the community restoration destiny, she is determined to be involved directly to ensure that her young children will not have to suffer climate change impacts even when she will be long gone.

"For the past years we've been victims of landslides due to degradation and I thought I could be the right person to educate our people on the needs and benefits of us conserving the environment,” she said.

The drone driven technology is targeted at a large scale forest cover and water tower survey that helps in spotting encroached spaces that prompt corrective actions.

The technology also monitors activities in the forest and around water catchment areas, singling out misplaced restoration interventions for corrective measures as a climate Action strategy.

“We are supposed to conserve 3,500 hectares of farm lands,15,000 of forests or protected areas and we have a target of 300 kilometers of riparian," stated Allan Tuwei.

Ruth Kimtei admits that the program is soon getting into implementation phase and the results will take many years.

“When it has returns, I might be too old or even I might not leave to witness the positive impact, but the nature will remember my efforts she concludes.” 

For Kimitei, her focus is to kick out climate crisis off her community for her future generation.

Established in 2022, Eldoert-Iten Water Fund (EIWF) program needed to track real time progress of the water project. 

Stephen Kibet now the Resilience watershed manager at EIWF realized the gap in reporting the project progress, did a proposal to the Nature Conservancy when he won a water grant to put up the drone team which has since been a success with a promising future.

On June 5th, 2024, the World Environmental Day focused on restoring land to its naturality, stopping desertification and building drought resilience as a global Climate Action.

As Kenya joined the globe in marking World Environmental day at various capacities; the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hosted United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) high level environmental policy event in the Capital, Riyadh.

For United Nation, Land restoration is a key pillar on Ecosystem restoration, a rallying call for protection and revival of ecosystems around the world which is critical to achieving sustainable Development Goals.