Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa), an Earth observation data platform informing sustainable development across the continent, has launched vital new tools to support wetland conservation in Africa. Introduced at the Conference of the Parties (CoP) of the Ramsar Convention of Wetlands of International Importance held in Victoria Falls in July, the first CoP hosted in Africa in 20 years, these tools were well received. With satellite data gaining recognition as an essential solution for addressing Africa’s fragmented and outdated wetlands inventories, DE Africa’s innovations are a significant step forward towards wiser wetlands conservation.

“While wetlands are central to Africa’s resilience, underpinning food security, water resources, and biodiversity, countries face distinct challenges in managing these ecosystems,” says Dr Lisa-Maria Rebelo, Managing Director (ag) and Lead Scientist at Digital Earth Africa. “These new tools, which are developed in Africa for Africa, support informed, data-driven decisions for wise and sustainable management of wetlands at a national level.”

The Wetlands Monitoring Workflow and the online Wetlands Monitoring Training Module, built on 40 years of Earth observation data, are tailored to equip African nations with scalable, decision-ready solutions for mapping, monitoring, and reporting on wetland status. Along with Digital Earth Africa’s Water Observations from Space (WOfS), Waterbodies Monitoring Service and the Wetland Insight Tool, these tools address the critical lack of wetland monitoring resources across Africa.

Tackling Africa’s wetland inventory challenges

As presented by DE Africa’s Earth observation Data Scientist, Mpho Sadiki, at Ramsar COP15, recent analysis of 51 African signatory country reports showed that 67% reported having a national wetland inventory. However, only 16% reported these inventories were created or updated within the last decade (2013–2022). This highlights a widespread reliance on outdated or static inventories, severely limiting effective monitoring.

Compounding this are resource, data access and infrastructure constraints. “Countries often have small teams with limited funding and technical capacity to process satellite data and maintain live inventories,” explains Sadiki. “This results in difficulty aligning different data sources, leading to inconsistent and incomplete inventories. These challenges hamper national planning, conservation, and reporting efforts.”

DE Africa’s Wetlands tools directly address these challenges by offering:

• Free, analysis-ready datasets and tools: Continental-scale decision-ready data ready for national adaptation and ongoing use
• Capacity building and training: Workshops, guides, and co-development initiatives ensure local teams gain the skills to manage and update inventories—supporting true local ownership.
• Cloud infrastructure and decision-ready tools: Nations can map and update wetlands independently, without the burden of high IT or infrastructure costs.
• Dynamic, living inventories: By shifting from static, decades-old data to inventories that update annually, countries can effectively track both seasonal patterns and long-term change.

Sadiki says participants emphasised the need to move from externally-run analysis to national teams maintaining inventories themselves. “The Wetlands Workflow’s adaptability means each African country can tailor monitoring to their unique conditions, without having to wait for centralised updates or invest in major infrastructure.”

While satellite data is increasingly recognised as essential, especially for countries with limited field capacity or large remote wetland areas, Earth Observation data should complement, not replace, local knowledge and field surveys, Sadiki explains. “The combination of Earth observation and local field data is the strongest pathway to credible, policy-relevant inventories.”

The new Wetlands Monitoring Workflow is already proving valuable, with active implementations in South Africa, Senegal, Kenya, and Uganda by local biodiversity and conservation institutions. The tool was developed collaboratively with DE Africa implementing partners, the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) in Kenya and Uganda and the Centre de Suivi Écologique (CSE) for Senegal, as well as the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) in South Africa.

DE Africa’s role in high-level dialogues at Ramsar COP15, particularly on strengthening National Wetland Inventories and supporting the GEO Wetlands Initiative, is cementing Earth observation’s place at the heart of future conservation efforts. Participants expressed strong appreciation for the end-to-end infrastructure offered by Digital Earth Africa.

Dr Rebelo says, “The combination of cloud based infrastructure and analysis ready Earth observation tools provided through DE Africa enable African nations to lower operational costs, reduce duplication, and fill critical data gaps—all while building capacity and local expertise. With the freely available, fit-for-purpose tools, we can close the wetland inventory gap and accelerate effective conservation action across the continent.”

Interested users should reach out to Digital Earth Africa for information on accessing the tools – www.digitalearthafrica.org