Biodiversity Explorers
People who have observed, collected or documented the
biodiversity of southern Africa
Our accumulated knowledge of the biodiversity
of southern Africa is the result of the observations and research of millions of
people. Human beings evolved in Africa and through observation, experience and
the ability to communicate to their children what they knew, our African
ancestors were able to accumulate knowledge about animals, plants and other
organisms that impacted on their survival and their lives in general. Animals
and plants that could be eaten or used in other ways (e.g. herbal remedies)
would have been given names. By the time Europeans were making voyages of
exploration round Africa (starting in 1488 AD with the voyage of Bartholomew Diaz)
there was therefore already a vast body of indigenous knowledge about African
biodiversity.
With the arrival of European explorers and
settlers came the beginning of documentation of southern African biodiversity.
This included the recording of firsthand observations but also the recording of
knowledge already gained by the indigenous inhabitants. Inevitably, the
identities of most of the individuals responsible for building our indigenous
knowledge have been lost in the mists of time but we do need to recognise their
role. Indigenous knowledge has become quite a politically sensitive matter
because of the way in which African indigenous knowledge has been exploited by
e.g. pharmaceutical firms, with no financial benefits acruiing to the
communities who have held this knowledge. For more on this, see the South
African Government's Indigenous Knowledge
Systems Policy.
This section of Biodiversity Explorer is
devoted to providing biographical information on people who have observed,
collected or documented the biodiversity of southern Africa or who have been
associated with biodiversity in some other way. They mainly include people who
have authored papers and books (especially publications in which new species are
named), who have been acknowledged by other authors, who have had organisms
named after them, whose have collected specimens (and hence have their names
listed on specimen labels and in specimen databases), or who have contributed
relevant images or information on the internet. It started out as a
list of the collectors of insects and arachnids in this region and it remains
largely such a list although with time, people who have been instrumental in
documenting other taxonomic groups will also be included. Thus, please note that
this list is VERY INCOMPLETE. However, I hope that you will find the information
that is here useful.
ABBREVIATIONS: SAM South African
Museum, Cape Town; TM Transvaal Museum, Pretoria; NM Natal Museum;
NMB National Museum, Bloemfontein; NCI National Collection of
Insects, Pretoria (part of PPRI); PPRI Plant Protection Research
Institute; SM State Museum, Windhoek (now the National Museum of
Namibia); DSAB Dictionary of South African Biography; G&C Gunn,
M. and Codd, L.E. 1981. Botanical Exploration of southern Africa. A.A. Balkema,
Cape Town, 400pp.
Click on the apprpriate alphabetical list to
find out more:
A
B C
D E
F G
H I
J K
L M
N O
P Q
R S
T U
V W
X Y
Z
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