SERVIR-Africa’s Geospatial Database Specialist, Daniel Macharia, highlighted SERVIR-Africa during his presentation at the 2nd Conservation-GIS conference held on 9-10 December 2009 at the Lenana House Conference Center in Nairobi, Kenya. The conference, whose theme was “Our environment- our futures: Using GIS technologies to ensure sustainable futures”, drew as participants conservationists, environmentalists and GIS practitioners. It was organized by the Society for Conservation GIS (SCGIS), Kenya chapter.

The conference placed special focus on past SCGIS scholars/alumni who presented and demonstrated ways in which their conservation work had been enhanced by the use of geospatial technologies. The presentations were organized around several sub-themes, which included mapping sustainable futures, our changing environment, climate change and land use, GIS tools for conservation and GIS education opportunities. The main aim of the conference was to strengthen the knowledge of the participants on geospatial technologies and to provide an opportunity for networking. The participants were urged to use the knowledge that they had gained to leverage on their work for the purpose of improving the society at large.

The Society for Conservation GIS (SCGIS) is a non-profit organization that builds community, provides knowledge, and supports individuals using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and science for the conservation of natural resources and cultural heritage. The Kenyan chapter of SCGIS, SCGIS-Kenya was launched at the beginning of 2006.