The Rufiji River Basin’s 177,429 km² covers about 20% of Tanzania’s total surface area and is the largest river basin in Tanzania and in East Africa. This basin contains about 30% of Tanzania’s surface water with three major rivers, the Great Ruaha, Kilombero, and Luwegu, serving as tributaries to the Rufiji River. The Rufiji River is very rich in biodiversity and supports the Rufiji-Mafia-Kilwa Ramsar site, about 50,000 hectares of mangroves, and a basin that includes 92 forest reserves, four national parks, and four major game reserves. This basin also hosts about 10% of Tanzania’s population and supports the livelihoods of about 200,000 people through irrigation and fishing. It is important for agriculture, fishery, wildlife conservation, tourism, and hydroelectric power generation. A planned uranium mine and the largest planned hydropower project to date in the Rufiji  River system have recently drawn attention to this river’s importance. Data gaps and lack of access to freshwater biodiversity information in the Rufiji River catchment curtail informed decision-making for sustainable conservation of biodiversity of this river system.

Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) aims to improve ecosystem management for the Rufiji River Basin by improving freshwater biodiversity information accessibility. To this end, the JRS Biodiversity Foundation supports a planning effort to review available data and literature, build a biodiversity monitoring framework, and form partnerships with data providers and end-users.

1. Form a strong technical informatics foundation.
2. Build a biodiversity monitoring framework.
3. Develop partnerships with data providers and end-users.

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. Evaluation of the applicability of existing models for freshwater biodiversity information systems by IT consultants.
2. A technical plan for the development of the data portal.
3. A data portal prototype for the access and exchange of biodiversity data for both data providers and users.
4. A comprehensive survey on data availability.
5. A literature review on biodiversity assessments in the Rufiji River Basin.
6. A strategy for sustainable biodiversity conservation and protocol for data collection, cleaning, validating, and publication.
7. A report that analyzes team expertise, stakeholders’ needs, targets for engagement and influence, models for harnessing external technical expertise, and a strategy for data sharing and strengthening of partnerships.
8. A plan for implementing the freshwater biodiversity information system, including timeline, budget, risk mitigation, and expectations of partners over the next three years for JRS Biodiversity Foundation funding.

The outcomes of this eleven-month planning phase include familiarity with systems used to access and share biodiversity data, strategies for biodiversity assessments, identification of data gaps within the catchment, and an understanding of how to engage stakeholders to value a data portal for freshwater biodiversity information. Successful planning will result in a clear understanding of expected conservation decisions, the needs of end-users, and the best approach and tools to use for data-sharing and for ecosystem assessments in the Rufiji River catchment. The knowledge gained will be applied to a multi-year implementation effort to establish a biodiversity data portal for sustainable access to biodiversity information.

The technical knowledge gained and teams formed during this project are central to achieving the long-term goal of equipping users with a tool to enhance sustainable conservation of freshwater biodiversity. Ultimately, implementation of a Rufiji River Basin freshwater biodiversity information system could be expanded to other catchments for use in planning conservation actions, long-term ecosystem monitoring, and planning mitigation of emerging negative impacts that are related to development planning.

Dr. Robert Modest Byamungu is a Senior Lecturer at SUA with over 12 years of university teaching and research experience. He has been a principal investigator and team member in a number of research projects in the field of biodiversity conservation and ecology with added expertise in GIS and Remote Sensing. Dr. Byamungu holds a BSc in Wildlife Management from SUA, an MSc in Biodiversity Conservation from Addis Ababa University, and a Ph.D. in Wildlife Management from SUA. He is currently engaged in a Post Doctoral project “Biodiversity and Abiotic Interactions” with Ulm University in Germany.

JRS is pleased to make our first award to Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA).  When JRS receives proposals that are compelling yet contain gaps in plans or unaddressed risks, we consider whether a four-month or an eight-month planning effort would support the project’s ultimate success. Experience has shown us that poor planning and poor risk management, can lead to delays and costs much greater than those of planning efforts.  We’ve also learned that partnership formation and collaboration is absolutely vital to success and can consume much of the first year of a project.  This 8-month planning phase should give Dr. Byamungu and his colleagues the time and resources to refine their technical plans and to deepen and expand their partnerships.  JRS is supporting biodiversity informatics efforts at several institutions in Tanzania that create a promising new landscape of databases, portals, and local expertise.