Tanzania is home to biodiversity hotspots, conservation priority areas, numerous endemic species, and wildlife resources that support tourism and hunting industries, but biodiversity is in rapid decline. Multiple biodiversity conservation conventions were ratified by the government in response to this decline, spurring the generation of biodiversity data and leading to the establishment of the Tanzania Biodiversity Facility (TanBIF), the national node of Tanzania, to promote digitation and publication of biodiversity data. Unfortunately, insufficient data infrastructure at TanBIF, issues with data mobilization, resource limitations, and a lack of awareness of information facilities have limited TanBIF’s function. Scientists in Tanzania do not have an effective way to access biodiversity data, which limits their ability to inform and influence decision-makers in conservation, planning, and development.

The Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT) in collaboration with TanBIF, and their partners will develop an online biodiversity data portal for Tanzania by adapting the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) software platform to address local needs. The development of the web portal is an effort towards upgrading TanBIF, which is facing technical problems. The ‘Living Atlas’ interface will provide access to and use of biodiversity data, as well as the ability for data holders to publish directly to the portal and migrate data from other sources, including TanBIF. Biodiversity Atlas Community will provide initial technical support development of the portal, to foster its use and to help Tanzania develop its own capacity for portal maintenance and expansion.

The following are key objectives of the project:

1. Develop the Atlas of Living Tanzania (ALT), a biodiversity web portal to serve as a hub for biodiversity data from various sources.
2. Mobilize and consolidate biodiversity data from existing sources, starting with data on pollinators.
3. Train and mentor users on the development, data publication, and use of the ALT.
4. Raise awareness of the ALT with researchers, policy makers, and the general public.

With COVID-19 restricting travel and meeting with our grantees, JRS invited our projects to submit a short update for the JRS Board of Trustees. Though intended for an internal JRS audience, we loved these videos and share them here with permission. Enjoy!

1. A fully equipped ALT web portal populated with pollinators data, functional data sharing tools, and integrated with TanBIF and GBIF.
2. An inventory of published and unpublished data.
3. 1 million data records published in the ALT.
4. At least 22,500 previously unpublished data records published in the ALT, including existing data from JRS and GBIF funded projects in Tanzania.
5. At least 30 datasets published in the ALT.
6. At least 15,000 records in printed form republished in the ALT.
7. 2,000 ALT registered users.
8. 10,000 ALT viewers.
9. An increase in utilization of the ALT, ALT publications, and publishers/users between portal deployment and the end of the project.

This project will bring together a network of biodiversity data holders to increase data availability and online data access. Although pollinator data will be the initial focus, the ALT will be able to accommodate biodiversity data from different ecosystems in freshwater, marine, terrestrial, and wetland environments. Researchers and other stakeholders will be able to efficiently access the data they need, and the ALT will be a valuable tool in addressing national issues in biodiversity, ecosystem services, food security, resilience to climate change, and more.

Dr. Florence Alex Mamboya is a senior lecturer at DIT where he has served as a teacher and the Department Head for Research, Publications, and Postgraduate Studies for 11 years. Mamboya obtained his PhD from the Botany Department, Stockholm University, Sweden in 2007. He has publications in ecological studies in both local and international journals and brings considerable project management experience to this project. His range of experience includes teaching, organizing workshops and trainings, developing institutional policies, and leading projects in institutional development. His leadership and project management experience will facilitate implementation of project activities and adaptation of the ALA platform to develop the ALT and connect it will other existing biodiversity data portals and databases.

JRS is delighted to support the development of the Atlas of Living Tanzania.  The effort will be the third time the foundation has invested in an effort to create a sustained biodiversity knowledge platform for Tanzania. First, in 2008-2011 we supported ETI BioInformatics to create a Tanzania biodiversity platform that was not maintained, though it is archived at Naturalis.  In 2011 we invested about $200,000 to the National Land Use Planning Commission of Tanzania and then $75,000 in 2014 to the Council on Science and Technology (COSTECH) to develop the Biodiversity Information Management Tool.  Why invest again given that neither prior investment gained national buy-in, data contributions, and sustained support? The technology needed is considerably easier to access than in 2008, has been ‘packaged’ in the ALA platform, and bandwidth and data holdings have increased.  User interfaces, graphical display of data, cloud computing, and open source software also contribute to enabling environment that has lowered the cost, time, and expertise for portal development. Over 20 nations have deployed the Living Atlas Platform – including Scotland, Benin, Suriname, Spain, France, and Sweden.  With other investments in pollinators and freshwater biodiversity, we have invested in a network of available capacity, data, and partners willing to share biodiversity data.  We also invested in a planning phase for the stakeholder consultation that we missed in the past. And finally, the partnership of the mandated institution of TanBIF and the IT-capable technical institutions of DIT appears to be an alignment of complementary skills and interests. We’ll see if the third time is the charm!