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 the Spiders of the African continent. It is a collection of data from citizen science contributions. Records range from 1880 to present. SpiderMAP is a Virtual Museum and citizen science project which aims to determine the distribution and conservation priorities of Scorpions on the African continent. SpiderMAP is also an online repository for photographic species distribution records for this important group of arthropods. Spiders make up the largest proportion of terrestrial invertebrate diversity after the insects and the mites, and they play a significant role as predators in ecosystems. Several initiatives are currently under-way to map spider distributions, and SpiderMAP aims to complement these by encouraging submissions from the ADU Citizen Scientist community. Records will be directed to the South African National Survey of Arachnida once identified. 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 arachnologist. Identification to species level is very high for the Theraphosidae (Baboon spiders), other groups are identified to genus or family level. 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 Scorpions of the African continent. It is a collection of data from citizen science contributions. Records range from 2003 to present. ScorpionMAP is a Virtual Museum and citizen science project which aims to determine the distribution and conservation priorities of Scorpions on the African continent. Scorpions are conspicuous and attractive terrestrial animals, and are frequently photographed. Images of all African Scorpions are welcomed and all contribute equally towards a better understanding of the distribution patterns of these fascinating creatures. Scorpions have captivated much interest by scholars by their great antiquity and the amazing suite of biochemical, physiological, behavioural, and ecological adaptations that have combined to ensure their continued success over the past 450 million years. Scorpions have a wide geographical distribution and live on all major land masses except Antarctica. Although some species are quite specific in micro-habitat requirements, many exhibit a high degree of plasticity in habitat use. However, the distribution of most species is poorly known and in most cases it is based on a handful of museum records. 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 arachnologist. 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 Reptiles 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 1834 to present. ReptileMAP is a Virtual Museum and citizen science project which aims to determine the distribution and conservation priorities of Reptiles on the African continent. ReptileMAP is building the 21st century distribution maps for Africa's reptiles. ReptileMAP also aims to improve public awareness of the value and plight of reptiles and also provide government agencies with a clear definition of conservation priorities that will help them to plan their activities. ReptileMAP is the continuation of the Southern African Reptile Conservation Assessment (SARCA) and incorporates the full SARCA database. 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, moderate for Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, but very sparse for the rest of Africa.

This data-set comprises validated species occurrence records of Mushrooms of the African continent. It is a collection of data from citizen science contributions. Records range from 1986 to present. Interest in mushrooms is mushrooming. Mushrooms are somehow mysterious, appearing and disappearing. MushroomMAP aims to help solve one of the big mushroom mysteries: "How are they distributed?" Even within South Africa this information is remarkably incomplete. This Virtual Museum project focuses on the "macrofungi", the mushrooms (and other fungi) that are more than about 5 mm in size. This is the same cut-off as used by Marieka Gryzenhout in her guidebook "Mushrooms of South Africa" published by Struik Nature. In her book, she describes the distribution of many species "widespread." So MushroomMAP provides the opportunity to make a real contribution to our understanding of the distribution of this fascinating component of biodiversity. 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 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.

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.

The Animal Demography Unit (ADU) launched the Coordinated Waterbird Counts (CWAC) project in 1992 as part South Africa’s commitment to International waterbird conservation. This is being done by means of a programme of regular mid-summer and mid-winter censuses at a large number of South African wetlands. Regular six-monthly counts are regarded as a minimum standard; however, we do encourage counters to survey their wetlands on a more regular basis as this provides more accurate data. All the counts are conducted by volunteers; people and organisations with a passion for waterbird conservation. It is one of the largest and most successful citizen science programmes in Africa, providing much needed data for waterbird conservation around the world. Currently the project regularly monitors over 400 wetlands around the country, and furthermore curates waterbird data for over 600 sites. The project’s Goal & Objectives are outlined below: To act as an effective long-term waterbird monitoring tool, benefiting conservation efforts worldwide. Ensure effective project management through working closely with a host of national and international stakeholders; steadily updating and integrating this network of people; Coordinate, prioritise and expand waterbird surveys on a national scale with the emphasis on long-term monitoring; Ensure effective data management throughout the project; Manage, maintain and expand the project database; Undertake effective IT development within the project, including the upkeep and expansion of the project website; Disseminate data and results through the project website, reports, scientific papers, popular articles, direct liaison with stakeholders, or any other useful means; Promote and facilitate the use of census data specifically for policy, planning and research purposes; Raise awareness and promote the project through the website, popular articles, newsletters, interviews, talks, or any other appropriate means; Submit census data towards the African Waterbird Census Programme in part fulfilment of South Africa’s contribution to international agreements such as Ramsar, Bonn and AEWA. There are many reasons for collecting waterbird data from around the country. A comparison of counts from different wetlands gives indications of seasonal movements and the relative importance of sites for the conservation of different species. Long-term monitoring of population numbers on a site basis allows for the development of annual population indices to trace the fluctuations of populations. A few more reasons are listed below: better understand how waterbirds use wetlands; identify important wetlands for waterbird conservation; provide information support for management policies; assist in monitoring the health of wetlands; raise awareness of importance of wetlands as biodiversity hotspots; serve as an early warning system for wetland degradation; serve as an early warning system for waterbird population decline.

This data-set comprises validated species occurrence records of Insect Order Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) 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 and private collections, personal notebooks, published literature records, surveys and other unpublished sources. Records range from 1800 to present. LepiMAP is a Virtual Museum and citizen science project which aims to determine the distribution and conservation priorities of Lepidoptera on the African continent. LepiMAP is building the 21st century distribution maps for Africa's moths and butterflies. LepiMAP also aims to improve public awareness of the value and plight of Lepidoptera and also provide government agencies with a clear definition of conservation priorities that will help them to plan their activities. LepiMAP is the continuation of the Southern African Butterfly Conservation Assessment (SABCA) and incorporates the full SABCA database. SABCA was formally stablished in 2007 as a three-way partnership between the Animal Demography Unit (Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town), The Lepidopterists' Society of Africa (Lepsoc), and the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). 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. 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, Malawi and Zimbabwe, but 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.