Community stewards are empowered and trained to collect data through different sensors, using the IoT network to feed data into control rooms and Earth Ranger. 

Monitoring of impact will take place through the first cohort of learners, focusing on their career journeys and personal development outcomes

• Data flows seamlessly from field-based hardware through the network into Earth Ranger
• Diagnostic information is key to good support and maintenance.

• Reliable and long-term : The gateways are robust and come with a 7-year warranty, offering peace of mind and operational security for protected area managers working in harsh and remote conditions.
• Unmatched coverage in rugged terrain: LoRaWAN technology continues to outperform alternatives in remote and rugged landscapes, providing extensive and reliable coverage across challenging terrain where cellular connectivity is limited or non-existent.
• Seamless regional asset tracking: The system supports device roaming, allowing for uninterrupted tracking of assets across different regions without manual reconfiguration—an essential feature for mobile wildlife monitoring and conservation equipment.
• Cost-effective: By leveraging low-cost, commodity-based hardware and integrating standard radio modules, LoRaWAN devices reduce overall deployment costs significantly. Compared to cellular or Wi-Fi-based solutions, this makes wide-area sensor networks more financially accessible for conservation teams.
• A scalable and sustainable alternative: With its low power consumption, long range and minimal infrastructure needs, LoRaWAN provides a sustainable alternative to satellite communication. It enables real-time environmental monitoring in even the most isolated locations.
• Widespread adoption for Conservation: Outside of this partnership, over 200 protected areas across the country are now using LoRaWAN to monitor vital resources like water, food, and habitat health. This growing adoption is helping secure a resilient future for wildlife, ecosystems, and the communities that depend on them.

Today, Actility’s IoT network server supports 131 LoRaWAN gateways with CCF and nearly a thousand sensors across 35 community-led and private conservancies. These networks span iconic landscapes like the Masai Mara, Tsavo and Northern Rangelands of Kenya, forming a digital safety net across nearly 10 million hectares.

Government agencies, including the Kenya Wildlife Service and Uganda Wildlife Authority, have endorsed the LoRaWan approach for expansion across national parks and community lands.

Key Lessons Learned

Community Engagement Builds Long-Term Value
Regular interactions through Community Talks and direct peer connections foster a strong sense of belonging and shared purpose. Projects benefit greatly from knowledge exchange, but these forums require consistent facilitation to ensure meaningful participation.

Recognition Drives Motivation and Credibility
Project badges act as an effective tool to recognize and validate project quality, boosting morale among implementers and instilling confidence in donors. However, the criteria for earning badges must be transparent and consistently applied to maintain trust.

Support Must Be Tailored and Accessible
Free advisory services have proven invaluable for projects facing diverse challenges, especially grassroots initiatives with limited resources. However, ensuring adequate capacity within the advisory team to meet growing demand remains critical.

Challenges and Aspects That Did Not Work

Inconsistent Participation in Community Engagement
Not all projects actively participate in discussions or share their experiences, limiting the potential for mutual learning. Encouraging broader involvement remains a challenge.

Balancing Standardization with Flexibility
While project badges and standards provide structure, some grassroots projects felt constrained by rigid criteria that didn’t fully account for local contexts. Introducing adaptability within guidelines has been key.

Advice for Replication

Foster Inclusive Communities
Actively encourage participation in knowledge-sharing initiatives by highlighting benefits and providing incentives for engagement, such as showcasing success stories.

Invest in Scalable Support Structures
Build a robust advisory team and implement scalable processes to accommodate the diverse needs of a growing project community.

Key Lessons Learned

Ease of Use is Crucial: Tools like TreeMapper and DataExplorer must prioritize user-friendliness to ensure adoption. Complex interfaces or workflows hinder usage, especially in regions with limited technical capacity.

Offline Capabilities Are Essential: Many restoration projects are conducted in remote areas with unreliable internet. Offline functionality in tools like TreeMapper has been pivotal for data collection in such environments.

Integration of Ground and Satellite Data Enhances Impact: Combining on-the-ground data with satellite insights significantly improves monitoring accuracy and provides a holistic view of project progress, which is critical for both implementers and donors.

Transparency Builds Trust: Publicly accessible and visually processed data strengthens donor confidence and promotes accountability, showcasing the impact of funded initiatives clearly.

Connectivity always a major consideration: Tools built are very light, so they work on old phones, and don't require cutting edge processors. All apps work offline, for instance, TRACER mapping is offline, TreeMapper data can be collected offline, and user only needs internet connectivity every month or so.

Financing and sustainability: ForestCloud's technical infrastructure is backed by a stable, long-term institutional partnership with Plant-for-the-Planet, Salesforce, and ESRI. A white-label version of the Restoration Platform—such as trees.salesforce.com—also serves as a fundraising tool to support broader ForestCloud operations. As the volume of users and applications grows over time, we may introduce a small percentage-based fee on donations to help sustainably cover maintenance and operational costs.

Aspects That Haven’t Worked

Inconsistent Data Collection Practices: Projects initially lacked standardized data collection protocols, which complicated integration and analysis.

Limited Early Training Support: Insufficient training materials and support initially hindered effective use of the tools. 

Advice for Replication

Focus on Core Needs First: Begin with essential functionalities that directly address user needs and gradually expand features based on user feedback and evolving requirements.

Standardize Data Collection: Implement clear, uniform guidelines for data collection and reporting standards to ensure consistency across projects. 

Offer Extensive Training and Support: Provide user-friendly training resources, tutorials, and ongoing technical support to help implementers fully utilize the tools.

Adapt Tools to Local Contexts: Consider regional variations in restoration practices and environments to ensure tools are versatile and relevant across diverse settings.

Prioritize Transparent Communication: Make project data accessible and understandable for all stakeholders, fostering trust and engagement.

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