This data-set comprises validated species occurrence records of Birds with odd plumage of the African continent. It is a collection of data from citizen science contributions. Records range from 2003 to present. Birds with all sorts of unusual plumage variations are observed from time to time. Nowadays, with digital photography, pictures of these birds are frequently available. BOP (Birds with Odd Plumage) aims to provide a place where the photographs can be curated into one database. Any bird with any unusual plumage characteristic qualifies for inclusion in the virtual museum. This will provide the opportunity to look for patterns. Do certain species have abnormal plumage more frequently than others? Do unusual plumage patterns occur more in some places than in others? Identification of citizen science records, based on the photos uploaded, is done by a panel of experts in the relevant taxa. The taxonomy is kept up-to-date by the project coordinator. All data is available to the public. Records are provided at the recorded precision, usually point coordinates. The coverage, as it would be expected for a specialist project, is very sparse for the whole of Africa.

This data-set comprises validated species occurrence records of Neuroptera and Megaloptera across Africa, although the bulk of the data is for South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini (former Swaziland). It is a collection of data from citizen science contributions, museum collections, personal notebooks, published literature records, and other unpublished sources. Records range from 1924 to present. The Neuroptera and Megaloptera are collectively loosely termed the "lacewings." Hence the name LacewingMAP. This is a somewhat obscure group of insects, and this project is an ideal way to sensitize everyone to their existence. Lacewings are one of nature's best all-purpose predators and provide essential "ecosystem services": they control aphids. LacewingMAP is a project in collaboration with Dr Mervyn Mansel, University of Pretoria, and a world leader in lacewing research. . He has digitized the museum specimens in the major museum collections in southern Africa. This data was uploaded into GBIF and forms the basis of the data holdings in LacewingMAP. LacewingMAP is a Virtual Museum and citizen science project which aims to determine the distribution and conservation priorities of “Lacewings” on the African continent. Identification of citizen science records, based on the photos uploaded, is done by a panel of experts in the relevant taxa. The taxonomy is kept up-to-date by the project coordinator, a professional entomologist. All data available in this dataset is shareable. Records are provided at the recorded precision, usually point coordinates. However, historical records were assigned to a 15x15 minute grid (or QDS) based on the locality description when no coordinates were provided. The coverage is good for South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini, moderate for Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Malawi but very sparse for the rest of Africa.

This data-set comprises validated species occurrence records of trees of the African continent. It is a collection of data from citizen science contributions, personal notes and other unpublished sources. Records range from 1960 to present. TreeMAP is a Virtual Museum and citizen science project which aims to determine the distribution and conservation priorities of trees and shrubs in southern Africa. TreeMAP is helping to build the 21st century distribution maps for southern African's trees. Identification of citizen science records, based on the photos uploaded, is done by a panel of experts in the relevant taxa. The taxonomy is kept up-to-date by the project coordinator. All data, excepting records for sensitive taxa, are available to the public. Records are provided at the recorded precision, usually point coordinates. The coverage is moderate for South Africa, but very sparse for the rest of Africa.

This data-set comprises species occurrence records of the fresh-water fish of the African continent. It is a collection of data from citizen science contributions. Records range from 1988 to present. FishMAP is a Virtual Museum project aiming to: (1) map the current distribution of the fresh water fish occurring in Africa, tentatively, the FishMAP region includes Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia and Namibia and the countries to the south and east of them; and (2) to serve as a repository of all existing distribution data for this group in the geographic extent of the project. Identification of citizen science records, based on the photos uploaded, is done by a panel of experts in the relevant taxa. All data are available to the public. Records are provided at the recorded precision, usually point coordinates. The coverage is low for South Africa and very sparse for the rest of Africa.

This data-set comprises validated species occurrence records of Amphibians on the African continent, although the bulk of the data is for South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini (former Swaziland). FrogMAP aims to build on the distribution data collected during seven years of fieldwork (1996-2003), plus earlier data compiled from museum records, private collections, the literature, and conservation agencies. Records range from 1905 to present. FrogMAP is a Virtual Museum and citizen science project which aims to determine the distribution and conservation priorities of Amphibians on the African continent. FrogMAP is building the 21st century distribution maps for Africa's Amphibians. FrogMAP also aims to improve public awareness of the value and plight of Amphibians and also provide government agencies with a clear definition of conservation priorities that will help them to plan their activities. FrogMAP is the continuation of the Southern African Frog Atlas Project (SAFAP) and incorporates the full SAFAP database with the current taxonomy. SAFAP data was used for the 2003 red listing of all frog species of the region, the results were published in the book “Atlas and Red Data Book of the Frogs of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland”, published by the Smithsonian Institution, USA. Identification of citizen science records, based on the photos uploaded, is done by a panel of experts in the relevant taxa. The taxonomy is kept up-to-date by the project coordinator, a professional herpetologist. The data available to the public is the subset of shareable records (see Lineage for details), also, records for sensitive taxa are not available to the public. Records are provided at the recorded precision, usually point coordinates. However, historical records were assigned to a 15x15 minute grid (or QDS) based on the locality description when no coordinates were provided. The coverage is good for South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini, but very sparse for the rest of Africa.

This data-set comprises validated species occurrence records of Weaver nests occurring in the continents of Africa and Asia, it includes all Weaver bird species. It is a collection of data from citizen science contributions, museum collections, and published literature records. Records range from 1779 to present. PHOWN (PHOtos of Weaver Nests) is a citizen science monitoring project aimed at determining the distribution of colonies or nests of all weaver species globally, and studying the variation in their colony sizes. Counting weaver nests and taking photos allows tracking of changes in weaver breeding effort. This project provides an easy way of monitoring common weavers, while helping the conservation of threatened weavers. Identification of citizen science records, based on the photos uploaded, is done by a panel of experts in the relevant taxa. The taxonomy is kept up-to-date by the project coordinator. All data is available to the public. Records are provided at the recorded precision, usually point coordinates. The coverage is good for South Africa, moderate for Namibia, and it is very sparse for the rest of Africa and Asia.

This data-set comprises validated species occurrence records of Birds of the African continent. It is a collection of data from citizen science contributions. Records range from 1980 to present. BirdPix curates interesting and important photos of birds. There are no particular constraints on what can and cannot be submitted, apart from needing the locality and date information. It is an excellent place to deposit photos of species which are out of their normal ranges. For SABAP2 observers, it can be used to keep the photos of species for which “Out of Range Forms” were generated. For bird ringers, it can be used to store photos of birds in the hand which were for some reason interesting: for example, pictures showing unusual patterns of wing moult, plumage variation with age and sex, etc. Records submitted to BirdPix will be included in SABAP2 as incidental records for mapping bird distributions. Identification of citizen science records, based on the photos uploaded, is done by a panel of experts in the relevant taxa. The taxonomy is kept up-to-date by the project coordinator. All data, excepting records for sensitive taxa, are available to the public. Records are provided at the recorded precision, usually point coordinates. The coverage is moderate for South Africa, but very sparse for the rest of Africa.

This data-set comprises validated species occurrence records of the insect Order Odonata, i. e. Dragonflies and Damselflies occurring in the African continent. It is a collection of data from citizen science contributions, museum collections, personal notebooks, published literature records, and other unpublished sources. Records range from 1762 to present. OdonataMAP is a Virtual Museum and citizen science project which aims to determine the distribution and conservation priorities of Odonata on the African continent. OdonataMAP is building the 21st century distribution maps for Africa's Odonata. It aims to serve as a repository of all existing distribution data for this group in the African continent. OdonataMAP also seeks to improve public awareness of the value and plight of this charismatic order of insects and to provide government agencies with a clear definition of conservation priorities that will help them to plan their activities. OdonataMAP build on the Odonata Database of Africa (ODA) and incorporates the full ODA database in its 2016 version (see Lineage). Identification of citizen science records, based on the photos uploaded, is done by a panel of experts in the relevant taxa. The taxonomy is kept up-to-date by the project coordinator. The complete data-set is available to the public. Records are provided at the recorded precision, usually point coordinates. However, historical records were assigned to a 15x15 minute grid (or QDS) based on the locality description when no coordinates were provided. The coverage is good for South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini, moderate to very sparse for the rest of Africa.

The South African Ringing Scheme (SAFRING) is based at the University of Cape Town and provides bird ringing services in South Africa and other African countries. This entails providing ringing equipment to qualified ringers, and curating all ringing data. SAFRING communicates with ringers and interested parties through annually publishing one or two issues of a newsletter, Afring News, and by maintaining a list server. SAFRING holds national training courses, annually if there is sufficient demand. SAFRING liaises with the provinces who have the responsibility of issuing permits. SAFRING has a strict code of ethics to ensure the safety of birds handled. SAFRING acknowledges the importance of bird ringing in that it has been described as the most important tool in ornithology in the 20th century.