Co-creating conservation opportunities: a participatory framework for nature-based solutions and enterprise development in East Africa

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides a methodological framework for integrating stakeholder knowledge into spatial planning for NbS, useful for conservation planning research.

🏢実務担当者:Offers a practical tool for identifying NbS opportunities that align ecological potential with community needs, applicable in watershed management projects.

🏛政策担当者:Highlights the importance of participatory approaches in environmental planning, informing policies that support community-based conservation and enterprise development.

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) offer significant potential to address socio-ecological challenges, yet their implementation is often constrained by planning approaches that fail to integrate biophysical suitability with stakeholder knowledge and values. This study presents a Spatial Multi-Criteria Analysis (SMCA) framework for NbS opportunity mapping in the Yala Basin, Western Kenya, which systematically integrates multiple knowledge systems. The SMCA consists of four steps: (1) biophysical suitability mapping using geospatial parameters; (2) integration of ecosystem services weighted by stakeholder priorities; (3) participatory mapping workshops with spatial extrapolation; and (4) urgency indices combining current pressures and future threats. In addition, we conducted a poverty and infrastructure analysis to identify Naturebased Enterprise (NbE) opportunities that align ecological potential with socioeconomic needs. We assessed six NbS types – agroforestry, terraces, riparian buffers, wetland restoration, cover crops, and afforestation. Results show limited overlap between stakeholder-identified priorities and biophysically optimal areas, underscoring the importance of incorporating local knowledge into spatial planning. Integrating stakeholder perspectives substantially modified purely biophysical assessments: marginally suitable areas expanded from <0.05% to 51.8% of the basin, while preserving consistency in core high-priority zones. Analysis of NbS–poverty relationships identified “high opportunity” areas, particularly in the middle basin, whereas infrastructure constraints emerged as barriers in the lower basin. This SMCAbased framework advances knowledge co-production and provides a practical approach for integrating ecological, social, and economic dimensions in watershed management, offering insights for balancing conservation and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa.

• openalex https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-026-01874-0first seen 2026-08-12 04:52:49