This 3-year (2007-2009) pilot project helped Tanzania to establish the Tanzania Biodiversity Information Facility (TanBIF) which is Tanzania’s national network coordinating Node for participation.

With the establishment of TanBIF, Tanzania has become a regional leader in using biodiversity informatics to underpin sustainable development.

TanBIF comprises a wide range of Participants, including national institutions, departments, agencies and organisations that intend to provide free and universal access to data and information regarding Tanzania’s mega-biodiversity, captured to GBIF’s globally-mediated standards.

Thanks to a multilingual (Kiswahili/English) national portal developed by ETI-BioInformatics in the Netherlands:

• Users can access biodiversity data as a list of records or as an occurrence map
• Biodiversity experts can discuss issues of biodiversity through an online forum
• Students can browse the portal and learn how to identify various species using an online identification key.

In the future, TanBIF will:

• Facilitate the research, mobilisation and digitisation of primary biodiversity data so that more data can be available via the Internet
• Provide more training in order to enhance the use of scientific data in biodiversity policy, decision-making and science
• Expand its outreach activities to promote TanBIF activities and convince institutions and organisations to publish their data through its portal.