Resources
The institutional capacity of IRA reflects the current capacity in terms of human resources, physical resources, research and training experiences.
Human Resources
IRA is a multidisciplinary institution with both academic and technical staff. The number of staff members stand at 39 (17 academic, 22 administrative and technical staff)
List of staff and their roles can be viewed at https://www.udsm.ac.tz/web/index.php/institutes/ira/staff
Physical Resources
IRA’s Documentation Unit continued to provide reading materials to the Institute’s staff, other university staff, graduate and undergraduate students. The Documentation Unit is fully computerized, and over 450 papers and books have been catalogued and linked to the Main Library Computerized Open Public Access Catalogue (OPAC). That means readers can access documents successfully from the University Main Library website. The computer facilities owned by the Institute offer several services including running a computerized information system in Natural Resources and the Environment; data processing and analysis of GIS activities; image processing; word processing; and database management including EIA. The IRA website is up and running, providing information to our stakeholders. The Institute’s website is linked to other websites such as the government website, the Climate Change and Adaptation in Africa (CCAA), REDD website, Open Society Foundation (formerly the Open Society Institute) project website and others. Computers are provided to IRA’s academic staff, GIS lab and also to students’ computer rooms.
Library Services and Documentation
IRA has a documentation unit that organizes and provides reading materials, photocopying, and other documentary services to institute staff, other university staff, graduate and undergraduate students. The unit has a stock of IRA publications dating back to 1967 when BRALUP was first established.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Accessibility to computer facilities is vital for efficient handling and processing of data/information. The Institute has made substantial efforts in procuring new computers to keep pace with advances in Information Technology. The Institute has sufficient computers, Plotters, Scanners and printers. The computer facilities offer several services including running a computerized information system in Natural Resources and the Environment; data processing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) activities; image processing; and database management. A computer has also been installed in the documentation unit.
The Institute has a Website hosted at University of Dar es Salaam Computing Center (UCC). All offices have computers with internet connections. The Institute has several scientific and field equipments, for example, electronic projector, GPS, digital cameras, etc.
Tanzania Natural Resource Information Center (TANRIC)
Tanzania Natural Resource Information Center was established by the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania in 1994 and is housed at and managed by IRA. The government?s decision to locate the TANRIC in IRA is a testimony of the Institute?s strength in matters related to natural resource management in Tanzania. The Center was established with financial assistance from the World Bank as part of the Forest Resource Management Project (FRMP) of the Tanzania Government.For many years since its establishment, the Institute (BRALUP/IRA) has accumulated and acted as a repository for data and which those who need it are gradually incorporating into databases for use. The data categories available in TANRIC include population, meteorology, forestry, various publications and GIS materials and equipment. Thus, IRA is an important source of information for storage, manipulation and supply to other users. Beneficiaries of information stored at TANRIC are students, the public, University staff, and other national, regional and international institutions.
IRA has the potential, capacity and manpower in Remote Sensing and GIS. The Institute has pioneered Remote Sensing in Tanzania since 1972 for land use planning, resource assessment and environmental monitoring and management. The Institute has a remote sensing laboratory, which includes a comprehensive collection of air photos dating back from the 1950s, satellite images, and equipment for visual interpretation, image processing and photography. The Institute also possesses a GIS laboratory with five digitizing tables and two HP DesignJet plotters. IRA serves a wide range of customers in the field of remote sensing and GIS technology. Software used includes ArcView, ArcGIS 8.x and ArcInfo. . One of the activities related to GIS that IRA did on behalf of the Government of Tanzania, was the work on the National Reconnaissance Level Land Use and Natural Resource Mapping, which was a component of the Forest Resource Management Project (FRMP). This project utilised the Landsat TM of 1994/95 and SPOT satellite data sets to produce land cover and land use maps for the whole country at the scale of 1:250,000. All the materials produced (both in hard copies and in digital formats), and the equipment used in this project were deposited at IRA
Aerial photo/remote sensing laboratory