Aerial imagery to support participatory landscape decision-making

Effective land-use management is crucial for addressing sustainability challenges. Participatory landscape planning can facilitate this by integrating diverse stakeholders and local knowledge. Our study explores the use of drone-captured aerial imagery to enhance shared understanding and knowledge co-production in 27 village councils in Laos. We show that this imagery supports participatory planning by making spatial information more interpretable. Using Participatory Action Research (PAR), we evaluate the effectiveness of aerial imagery, comparing nadir and oblique drone images with satellite images to assess their interpretability by local stakeholders. We found that nadir images provided highest identification rates of natural and built features, while oblique imagery was preferred for self-localization and contextual understanding. The study demonstrates that such images help stakeholders understand the landscape from new perspectives, essential for informed land-management decisions. Our findings highlight the need to integrate technological tools with local knowledge to ensure inclusive environmental governance grounded in community experience.