The South African government’s Covid-19 portal at sacoronavirus.co.za site contains information about the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the disease it causes, plus statistics on its spread in SA and related government press releases.
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 Randall Josephs | Emerging Leaders Workshop
Getting to know Randall Randall is a technician at the H.G.W.J. Schweickerdt Herbarium (University of Pretoria). He holds an honours degree in biological sciences obtained at the University of Cape Town. He has gained experience working in collections management and...
Spotlight on Zamawelase Mwelase | Emerging Leaders Workshop
Getting to know Zama Zama describes herself as someone who loves nature and the sea breeze, and she says the tree breeze soothes her soul. “Nature is a place where I can be at peace with the world and myself. It always reminds me that important things in life are...
Spotlight on Nikisha Singh | Emerging Leaders Workshop
Getting to know Nikisha Nikisha holds an MSc. in Biological Sciences from the University of KwaZulu-Natal which primarily focused on the aspects of the biology and ecology of the southern tree agama (Acanthocercus atricollis) in an urban context. Her research...
New species described from South African collections
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Iconic specimens
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
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.
