The first African experience of Participatory 3 Dimensional Modeling (P3DM) was developed by Ogiek people living in the Mau Forest Complex in 2006. Ogiek activists had been involved in the CTA - sponsored Mapping for Change conference in 2005 in Nairobi, and felt that the 3 - dimensional technique would be of assistance.

Ogiek activists had already been working with ERMIS Africa on using satellite maps and sketches aimed at identifying the boundaries of Ogiek ancestral territories in order to secure their land rights and cultural heritage. The participatory 3D mapping process was organized by ERMIS Africa with the assistance of CTA. Community elders played a central role in the legend making process that helped in stimulating a rich intergenerational knowledge exchange and in strengthening the indigenous language.

Instead of focusing on advocacy and land rights, the elders of the Ogiek felt that the 3D model would be a platform for intergenerational teaching about the landscape and their intangible cultural heritage. The final model resulted in a map of an earlier, intact, healthy and functioning forest ecosystem - depicting the physical, biological and cultural environment as it was in the 1920s. The documentation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage valorised local knowledge, reinforcing Ogiek cultural identity.

The 3D modelling exercise lasted for 11 days and involved the following activities: delivering an orientation on facilitation techniques and P3DM practice; facilitating the construction of a scaled and geo-referenced 3D model by school children; facilitating the composition of the map legend; depicting mental maps by elders; and extracting the data via digital photography. On-screen digitising, ground-truthing and generation of thematic maps followed during the months of September-December 2006.

The mapping exercise was attended by members of the local communities, facilitators, and a number of national and international trainees. The local community was represented by school children (30), schoolteachers (6) and approximately 120 Ogiek elders, men and women delegated by the 21 clans.