Tanzania's largest mangrove ecosystem
The Rufiji Delta is one of the important biodiversity hot spots in the Indian Ocean and is part of the Rufiji-Mafia-Kilwa Marine Ramsar Site where three important WWF-Tanzania Conservation thematic areas meet: Marine, Terrestrial & Freshwater. The region is home to extraordinary ecosystem services - fish nurseries to support vital habitats and livelihoods, water and sediment regulation, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration. The mangroves of the Rufiji Delta are being mapped and monitored using innovative technology: high and medium resolution satellite imagery, color and near-infrared imagery collected from airborne drone, all connected via smartphones and backed up in the cloud. See more about the project in this Story Map. The East Africa Mangrove App, developed by WWF Space+Science ensures consistent field data collection, a useful guide for identifying species, and automatic back-up in the cloud. So we no longer need water proof data sheets, or error-prone data transfer to Excel tables.
All spatial data for the area, including previous field data, satellite imagery and analyses can be explored in the Rufiji Delta Mangrove Data Portal. Click the link above to open the data portal in a new tab, or explore below using the tools in the upper right. Field data can be queried, filtered and put into charts to explore what has been collected and where.
do you have a need for high-tech mangrove mapping? Let us know how we can help.