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The Natural Science Collections Facility is a network of South African institutions holding natural science collections, established as part of the Department of Science & Technology’s Research Infrastructure Roadmap and co-ordinated by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). Participating institutions are committed to collaborating to achieve the following objectives:
Collections secured and accessible physically and virtually for research
Data from specimens in collections accessible and used for managing collections, research and decision-making
Research on collections and associated data addresses issues of national and global relevance
Collections and associated research provide services to identify natural science specimens for a range of stakeholders including in the agriculture, health, environmental management and academic sectors
Latest News
Spotlight on Pumela Mpukwana | Emerging Leaders Workshop
Getting to know Pumela Pumela is known for being full of positive energy and a well-organised leader and team player. She describes herself as a very good communicator and a hard worker who enjoys taking on challenges and winning. She believes that the role she plays...
Spotlight on Yolanda Michaels | Emerging Leaders Workshop
Getting to know Yolanda “I am Yolanda, and I strive to change the world by being myself.” Yolanda’s role is to ensure that storerooms for Cenozoic Palaeontology and Taphonomy collections are maintained. She also manages administration in the designated collections...
Spotlight on Nonkululeko Ntshangase | Emerging Leaders Workshop
Getting to know Nonkululeko “I have an herbal devotion. I live and breathe medicinal plants and have a profound love for anything database related. Working at the herbarium has led me to think that I am one of God's favorites, as I am managing the database and get to...
New species described from South African collections
Discovery of new species and records of rare African wasps
Simon van Noort, Research and Exhibitions Department, Iziko Museums of South AfricaThe ongoing exploration and documentation of the huge diversity of unknown wasp species in Africa has recently led to the description of new species of rare parasitoid wasp species,...
Fossil lamprey larvae from Makhanda, South Africa overturn textbook assumptions on vertebrate origins
Linda Dyani, Albany Museum The unprecedented discovery of an ancient lamprey growth series from Makhanda was revealed in the prestigious scientific journal, Nature on the 10th of March 2021. Supported by information from rare juveniles of other (slightly less ancient)...
New species of enigmatic African wasps
As part of discovery and exploration of the extremely species rich, yet largely unknown wasp fauna in Africa, we recently described a number of new species of parasitoid wasps in the superfamilies Chalcidoidea and Ichneumonoidea, including the first records of two...
Iconic specimens
Rare fly found in South Africa after 160 years
Dr John Midgley, KwaZulu-Natal MuseumWe know very little about most insects, probably because there are so many species out there. Scientists are still busy discovering new species of insect, and some estimate that over 90% of the animals on Earth are insects!...
Old Fourlegs
Louanne Kirton, Photographic Competition Second Runner-up: The ugliest specimenOn 22 December 1938, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, the Curator of the East London Museum, received a call from the Captain of the Nerine fishing trawler, Hendrik Goosen. He had just returned...
Gone but not forgotten
David Allan, Photographic Competition Winner: The most iconic specimenI describe the Dodo Skeleton as a first-hand view back into a lost past. It is one of the two most complete skeletons of the Dodo anywhere in the world. Did you know? Dodos were a type of pigeon....
Use of Collections
Shale Gas Exploration SEA
Barcode of Wildlife Project
Red List Assessments
Virtual Museum
The NSCF aims to increase the accessibility and use of natural science collections for research and also to secure collections.
One mechanism of achieving both these objectives is to establish a “virtual museum” which will take the form of detailed images of important specimens such as types, and to also provide digital access to documents such as historical field notes, old catalogue books and accession registers and other documents related to the collections. Over the next two years we will initiate a project to digitise specimens and important documents and to make these available online. We also aim to show some of the collection store rooms online to provide a sense of the scope and scale of these for the public who rarely have the chance to see these hidden treasures.