SABONET Mid-Term Review Living Plant Collections: Malawi ...Windhoek, the triffid weed Chromolaena,...

1SABONET News Vol. 6 No. 1 March 2001

Newsletter of the Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Volume 6 No. 1 ISSN 1027-4286 March 2001

SABONET Mid-TermReview

Living Plant Collections:Malawi and Zimbabwe

Genetic Resourcesand Benefit Sharing

Southern AfricanHerbaria: Windhoek

SABONET Mid-TermReview

Living Plant Collections:Malawi and Zimbabwe

Genetic Resourcesand Benefit Sharing

Southern AfricanHerbaria: Windhoek

2 SABONET News Vol. 6 No. 1 March 2001

ON OUR COVER: Platyceriumelephantotis, an epiphytic fern,growing on a riparian tree inthe Luangwa Valley, Zambia.(Photo: Patrick Phiri)

Cover Stories5 SABONET Mid-Term

Review

22 Living Plant Collections:Malawi

26 Living Plant Collections:Zimbabwe

34 Genetic Resources andBenefit Sharing

42 Southern African Herbaria:Windhoek

c o n t e n t s

Features14 5th International

Chromolaena Workshop

16 Computer Viruses

17 SSC 10

18 Database ManagementCourse

19 Benefits of Data Capturingin Herbaria

30 GTI Africa Regional Work-shop

32 Plant Genetic ResourceCentre

37 SABONET’s Students

37 SAAB Conference Abstracts

40 Where Have All theFlowers Gone?

44 Obituary: Willi Giess

Regulars3 Editorial

4 Letters to the Editors

46 The Paper Chase

50 Regional News Update

56 E-mail Addresses

3 Letters

25 Plant Collections

21 Plant Collections

48 News

14 Chromolaena


l e t t er f rom th e ed i t or sNewsletter of the Southern African Botanical Diversity Network

EditorsStefan Siebert

Marthina Mössmer

Design and LayoutAntoinette BurkhardtVanilla Design Studio

(27) 12 809-0318

Reproduction and PrintingBusiness Print Centre

(27) 12 349-2295

SubscriptionsNyasha Rukazhanga-Noko

[email protected]

Websitewww.sabonet.org

Submission of ManuscriptsMarthina Mössmer

[email protected] Instructions to Authors on page 4

SABONET News is the official newsletterof the Southern African Botanical

Diversity Network (SABONET).

SABONETNational Botanical Institute

Private Bag X101Pretoria 0001

SOUTH AFRICATel.: (27) 12 804-3200

Fax: (27) 12 804-5979/3211

SABONET News is published in March,July and November and is distributed freeof charge.Current number of subscribers: 1 600

Printed on recycled paper.

This newsletter was made possible throughsupport provided by the GEF/UNDP (SABONETis a GEF Project implemented by the UNDP)and the Regional Centre for Southern Africa,Gaborone, Botswana, US Agency for Interna-tional Development (Plot no. 14818 LebatlaneRoad, Gaborone West, Extension 6 Gaborone),under the terms of the Grant No. 690-0283-A-00-5950. The opinions expressed in thenewsletter are those of the authors and do notnecessarily reflect the views of the US Agencyfor International Development, the GEF/UNDP,the SABONET Steering Committee or theNational Working Groups.

EDITORS: STEFAN SIEBERT & MARTHINA MÖSSMER

WELCOME to the first issue of our new-look SABONETNews! We are starting the new year with a new layout—astreamlined design that packs even more information into our

pages. The new SABONET News features a Letters column on page 4, sofeel free to air your views, ask questions, or comment on articles. If youwant to submit articles for the next issue, you will also find Instructions toAuthors on page 4.

In this issue, we include articles on the living plant collections of Malawiand Zambia, computer viruses, the National Herbarium of Namibia inWindhoek, the triffid weed Chromolaena, and many more. Our regularProfile feature has now introduced all the National Coordinators to ourreaders; this issue does not contain a profile. Starting with the next issue,we will be featuring other prominent SABONET colleagues.

The most important SABONET event in recent months was the UNDP/GEF Mid-Term Review of the SABONET Project. The achievements ofSABONET during 1996–2000 have been widely recognised, with our sta-tus as a flagship regional project being acknowledged by similar regionalprojects across the world. This achievement is due to the tremendouscommitment of all ten participating countries of southern Africa. How-ever, UNDP/GEF regulations require more than global approval to deter-mine and evaluate the state of their projects. One of the major appraisalsrequired is the Mid-Term Review of a UNDP/GEF-funded project. Theaim of this assessment is to highlight the lessons learned and to deter-mine the way forward. See our article on page 5 for a summary of theMid-Term Review Reportback presented in Windhoek, Namibia.

SABONET News was rated very highly: the evaluation team noted thatSABONET News is widely read and appreciated and is a very valuableproject output. It was considered an excellent medium for informationsharing and for staff development.

During the next 20 months, participating institutions will be called uponto actively promote and drive our activities towards achieving outputs.By accomplishing this goal, we will be presenting the donor agencieswith a measure to evaluate the capacity that has been built in the botani-cal institutions of southern Africa.

—Stefan Siebert & Marthina Mössmer


l e t t er s to t h e ed i tor s [email protected]

1) Manuscripts should preferably be inEnglish.

2) If possible, text should be sent in electronicformat via e-mail or on a stiffy disk andshould be in Microsoft Word, WordPerfect,or Rich Text Format. Otherwise, hard copycan be sent or faxed to the SABONEThead office.

3) Tables and charts should be in one of thefollowing formats: Microsoft Excel, QuattroPro, Lotus 1-2-3, or Harvard Graphics.Data must be supplied with charts.

4) If possible, include colour slides, black-and-white photographs, or line drawings toillustrate articles.

5) Caption all tables, figures and photographsclearly on a separate sheet. Includephotographer credits.

6) Each author should provide name,affiliation, postal address, telephone and faxnumbers, and an e-mail address (ifapplicable).

7) Look at the most recent issue of SABONETNews for stylistic conventions.

8) SABONET News holds the right to edit anyreceived copy.

9) Manuscripts should be sent to MarthinaMössmer. Via e-mail: [email protected] copy: SABONET, National BotanicalInstitute, Private Bag X101, Pretoria 0001,SOUTH AFRICA. Fax: (27) 12 804-5979/3211.

10) Submissions for the next issue shouldreach the editors before 31 May 2001.Late submissions will not be included.

instructions to authors

THANK YOU TO SABONET-NAMIBIA AND

NBI

Prior to my first visit to Namibiaand the Western Cape of South Af-rica in February and March 2001, Iconsidered the Namibian terrainand the northernsector of the West-ern Cape to be ex-tensively coveredby Kalahari sands.This notion wasd r a s t i c a l l ychanged after visit-ing Namibia andparticipating in afield trip after at-tending the GlobalTaxonomic Initia-tive in Cape Townin February–March2001! A visit to theNational BotanicalGardens of Na-mibia in Wind-hoek and a three-day tour of the Western Cape hascertainly expanded my knowledgeof phytogeography in southern Af-rica. Thanks to SABONET-Namibiafor facilitating the SABONET Steer-ing Committee Meeting inWindhoek and to the National Bo-tanical Institute for organising thefield trip across the Western Capeafter a successful GTI Workshop. Ipromise to call again!

—P.S.M. PhiriUniversity of Zambia

Lusaka, Zambia

See our article on the GTI Workshop on page31 and a summary of the Mid-Term Reviewreport that was presented in Windhoek onpage 5. Eds.

FLATTERED!I would like to take this opportunityto thank my extended southern Af-rican botanical “family” for theirtouching comments, complimentsand best wishes made in the De-

cember 2000 edition ofSABONET News. I shall cer-tainly try to stay as involvedas possible with the manydedicated and committedmembers of our networkspread across southern Af-rica.I also wish Stefan Siebert allthe best in managing theproject for the next two years,and will endeavour to givehim all the support I possiblycan. I look forward to helpingmobilise the botanical gardencomponent of the SABONETProject in the months ahead.Carpe diem!

—Christopher WillisNational Botanical Institute

South Africa

TRAINING COURSE

It was an honour to participate inthe Herbarium Management Train-ing Course (11-29 October 1999), assomeone found worthy to be asteward of the floral treasure insouthern Africa—in my days. Iknow I am a debtor but stronglybelieve that I am going to be use-ful; I will try my best to do so.Thanks for investing in me. Kuan-Tzu said, “If you are planning for ayear, plant a seed. If you are plan-ning for five years, plant a tree, ifyou are planning for 100 years, thenteach or train the people. When a

single seed is sown, a single har-vest is realised. When you teach thepeople, you reap a hundred har-vests”. So long live SABONET!

—SABONET Student

ORBEA IRRORATA

In 5(2): 105, under Succulenta 2000,you ask about Orbea irrorata. Thisis almost certainly just a variant ofO. verrucosa and of no taxonomicsignificance. I will be dropping thename in my forthcoming bookStapeliads of the World, unlesssomeone comes up with convinc-ing proof before then that it is avalid species. I tried to persuadeLarry Leach to do so when he wasrevising Orbea—he felt that it mighthave been overlooked by recentcollectors, but nothing that hastranspired since leads me to feelotherwise. Did anyone come upwith a sighting?

—Darrel [email protected]

Patrick Phiri being persuaded to getcloser to an ostrich in the Karoo, WesternCape Province, South Africa. Stuntedplant growth typical of the biome isvisible in the background.

Patrick Phiri leaningagainst a quiver tree Aloedichotoma, a spectacularfloristic feature in theNational Botanical Garden,Windhoek, Namibia.(Photo: W. Mziray)


The SABONET Mid-Term Review (MTR) was con-ducted from 22 January to 5 February 2001 by Mr

Jonathan Timberlake (Biodiversity Foundation of Af-rica, Zimbabwe) and Dr Alan Paton (Kew, United King-dom). Fifteen days were devoted to this task, with allten participating countries being assessed to a greateror lesser degree. An oral report-back was presentedto the SABONET Steering Committee and interestedparties on 5 February 2001 in Windhoek, Namibia. Theaim of the presentation was to discuss the recommen-dations made by the Mid-Term Review evaluationteam. An official SABONET Mid-Term Review Reporthas been prepared by the consultants and submittedto the UNDP-GEF Regional Bureau for Africa. This ar-ticle is not the official report, but a summary of thepresentation made by the consultants in Windhoek.

The main objectives of the evaluation were the follow-ing:• Evaluate progress regionally.• Get an indication of benefits to the various institu-

tions.• Get an indication of benefits to botanical users na-

tionally and regionally.• Obtain suggestions for modifications to project ac-

tivities and/or design over the next 24 months.• Develop an “exit strategy” for the existing project.• Determine the strengths and weaknesses of the ex-

isting project, and to learn any lessons.• Get indications of structure, topics and activities for

any future regional botanical project.

The team was required to look at the following aspects:• How improved capacity of herbaria can be used in

plant conservation and sustainable utilisation.• Whether the needs of users of botanical informa-

tion had been addressed.• How the project can be justified regionally, rather

than as the sum of its national parts and what theregional benefits are.

• What priorities should be set for the remaining pe-riod of the project, given that not all institutions willachieve all the stated outputs.

It was highlighted that the implementation capacity ofparticipating institutions across the region differsgreatly. All the countries had a common goal—con-servation and sustainable use of plant resources—buteach country may not have the same priorities for im-mediate objectives or activities.

The need to develop an “Exit Strategy” was also em-phasised. This will allow the project to best realise its

SABONETMid-Term Review

potential and to provide outputs that can be used as alaunch pad for further funding. A further issue thatpertains is the project design. A process should be putin place to scrutinise the project implementation inorder to redesign the logframe and revise the budgetallocation. Such an effort will ensure an efficient finalproject phase.

Evaluation Conclusions

The review team concluded that SABONET has beena very successful and innovative taxonomy project:• National capacity in terms of human skills has been

built.• National institutions are satisfied with appropriate-

ness and level of training.• Institutions purchased essential equipment on a

needs basis.• The project has been flexible and appropriate in

terms of national needs.• The Coordinator’s Office has been strong, support-

ive, and responsive.• Many institutions have databased a significant part

of their collections.• Preparation of national and regional Red Data Lists

is advanced.• Regional awareness of botany was created and en-

couraged mutual support among botanists in theregion.

However, the evaluation team also noted a few gen-eral concerns:• Insufficient attention has been given to products

derived from this increased capacity and to usersof botanical information.

The Education Centre in Zimbabwe where the consultantsmet with representatives from Malawi, Zambia andZimbabwe during the MTR. (Photo: C. Willis)


• Only 12 official months remain, and two or threeSABONET Steering Committee (SSC) Meetings,therefore it is important that maximum impact isgained from the capacity built thus far. Many rec-ommendations concern prioritisation of activities tofocus on outputs from existing strengths.

• Due to large differences in size and implementationcapacity between institutions, smaller institutionshave a disproportionate burden placed upon themwhen common activities are undertaken. Not all par-ticipating institutions have the same mandate.

• The project is mostly run through only one nationalinstitution. This may limit the project’s value to thebroader botanical community (providers and usersof information) in each country.

• The vision of the project by most participants hasbeen national, not regional. This can hinder the bestuse of regional resources and reduces the potentialof botanists in the region to influence policy. Is theproject truly regional, that is, building on regionalexpertise and strengths, and building regionalknowledge?

• There is not a clear demarcation between theSABONET and SECOSUD projects, particularly ininstitutions with a lower implementation capacityand in the National Botanical Institute (NBI) PRE-CIS support unit.

Training

Training has increased the regional capacity to studyplant diversity. It has been flexible and appropriate toinstitutional needs. A good gender balance of traineeswas maintained. Most trainees are, or are likely to be,absorbed into permanent staff, ensuring sustainability.Most training has been utilised, although monitoringhas been weak. Training of horticulturists has not yetbegun. IUCN NETCAB has already reviewed the train-ing programme; their findings are fair and accurate. Aproblem exists in the implementation of IT skills, suchas in the use of PRECIS. Institutions supported sup-port options that include hosting a fellow, attachingstaff to a mentor (remotely or by attachment to anotherinstitute), and hosting a national training course. In-stitutions have been hesitant in requesting funding forsuch activities.

The following priority areas were identified for furthertraining:• Ability to produce maps and labels with PRECIS• General plant identification• Taxonomic validation of herbarium specimens• Production of formal taxonomic revisions and no-

menclature

Project management training was identified as a pri-ority for future training. Activities must be prioritisedto ensure maximum use of capacity built to produceproducts that fulfil the stated objectives. Such trainingwill ensure that institutions have the capacity to de-velop proposals and lever funding for further regional

or national projects. Institutions need to express clearlyidentified and costed priorities, so that the remainingbudget can be used efficiently.

The evaluation team made the following recommen-dations:• Project management training should be provided.

Countries should be proactive and send their staffon local courses.

• Fellowships and mentoring should be resourcedand countries encouraged to submit proposals tothe Steering Committee in order to consolidate theirtraining and make the best use of the expertise inthe region. Proposals must be needs-driven andfocussed toward the production of a product whichillustrates the relevance of the capacity built, for ex-ample, training in identification and validation ofherbarium material of a priority group for Red Datalisting.

• Training in general identification by specialistscould be built onto the end of the next regional fieldtrip. This may help speed up the naming of mate-rial collected and thus the delivery of a product fromthe activity.

• Student progress reports must be submitted to theSecretariat in the quarterly report. Reports shouldindicate whether the student is making goodprogress.

• During regional trips the SABONET InformationTechnology (IT) unit should involve local service pro-viders in the national workshops to ensure that theyare also trained in the database. Local service pro-viders should also be encouraged to give after-hours

MTR consultants Jonathan Timberlakeand Alan Paton “inspecting” RomaUniversity Botanic Garden with MofalefaTlali. (Photo: S. Siebert)


courses to SABONET IT staff at the participating in-stitutions.

• A follow-up should be conducted of all course par-ticipants and post-graduate students. This should bepresented as a life-history of the training programmeand should also look at the impact on the staff du-ties and efficiency of the project.

Field Trips

A regional trip to the Nyika Plateau of Malawi/Zambiain 2000 provided an excellent opportunity for trainingin field procedures and identification, and allowed thebuilding of personal contacts between participants. Thepublication of a Conservation Checklist of the Plants ofthe Nyika is well advanced. A trip to southern Mozam-bique is planned, but planning is only in the earlystages.

Vehicles and funding through SABONET has allowedincreased national field collecting. Trips have focussedon increasing herbarium collections. Countries differedin their capacity to carry out field trips. National fieldtrips have mainly only involved people from the spe-cific country.

The evaluation team made the following recommen-dations:

• The logframe should be adjusted to provide only forthe southern Mozambique regional trip. No otherlarge regional trip should be planned for the remain-der of this project owing to lack of time. However, ifa few countries decide to undertake and organisethe third regional field trip, it will be considered bythe SSC.

• Countries should be encouraged to submit bids tofund further national field trips. Such trips shouldhave a clearly expressed purpose, focussing on un-der-collected areas or taxa, and thus feed into out-puts such as national checklists or Red Data lists.Proposals should also consider inviting a participantfrom another regional country who has interests andexperience appropriate to the goal of the trip.

• Field trips must be evaluated in terms of the numberof specimens collected. It is understood that certaincountries do not see field trips as a priority owingto the danger associated with such trips.

Networking

A collaborating Southern African Botanical DiversityNetwork has been established—this is one of the greatsuccesses of the project. Network functions were de-veloped at several levels, from individuals learning fromshared experiences to institutions gaining broaderunderstanding of each other’s work. The secretariatplayed an important role, building an atmosphere of

mutual trust and understanding.

SABONET News has been an excellent medium for in-formation sharing and for developing staff. It has alsoprovided an element of peer pressure to further de-velop capacity by learning from the activities of oth-ers. An important function of SABONET News hasbeen to raise awareness of relevance and capabilitiesof botanical institutions. Countries have received feed-back from broad community of users of botanical in-formation through the wide distribution of SABONETNews.

No recommendations were made as networking wasfelt to have developed well.

SABONET News was rated very highly by the MTRconsultants. (Photo: C. Willis)

National Committees

In each country, the National Working Group (NWG)consists of the coordinating institution, representativesof other botanical institutions, related government de-partments, representatives of universities, and inter-national organisations (IUCN and UNDP). Some coun-tries have wildlife societies or WWF on the NWG, butgenerally representatives of the broader communityof users of botanical information (for example, con-servation NGOs, EIA consultants, ecologists) are notrepresented. NWGs have generally not initiated re-quests for activities, but have concentrated on moni-toring and advice. Lack of broader user group repre-sentation has limited the ability of NWGs to facilitatelinkages and collaboration with similar activities withinthe country and region. The NWG attendance levelvaries between countries; poor turnout is due to mem-bers’ perception that the project does not benefit theirown institution or interest, lack of time, and high staffturnover (especially within UNDP).

The evaluation team made the following recommen-dations:• Although National Working Groups fail to monitor

and review effectively because they lack the breadthof users of botanical information in each country,


no change to their structure during the existingproject is suggested. The project needs to consideroutputs as a priority rather than details of opera-tion.

• National Working Groups’ outputs should becomemore proactive. Developing a strong national net-work can encourage proactive participation.

Electronic Information Systems

The SABONET project has provided all participatingcountries with computers, training, and software toallow databasing of herbarium collections. The soft-ware (PRECIS) is appropriate to countries’ needs. SouthAfrica’s NBI has provided considerable support.SABONET has also provided resources to check dataquality.

Initially, data capture was slow owing to the followingreasons:• Lack of resources directed towards IT support at

beginning.• Difficulty in employing a suitable person to support

PRECIS other than in South Africa.• Lack of IT management skills.• Data capturers attending courses.• No working relationship between institutions and

local service providers.• Two institutions had to re-enter approximately 5 000

specimens as the existing database was not compli-ant with PRECIS. However, most problems have nowbeen solved.

Databasing works best in the institutions where IT issupported, either by a staff member or local serviceprovider (LSP). But LSPs often have a high staff turno-ver or are situated some distance from participatinginstitutions.

The low implementation capacity of some institutionsmeans staff were unable to develop sufficient IT skillsowing to other work pressures. Implementation ofPRECIS is sustainable, but there are concerns whetherit applies to institutions that lack necessary IT skills.

Approximately 200 000 specimens have beendatabased as a direct result of the project. The meanrate is 11 specimens per data capturer per workingday. However, databasing of national collections willnot be completed in all institutions before the end ofthe project. The Poaceae was the priority target group,but otherwise no clear strategy was designed forprioritising data capture. This is important for institu-tions that will not complete databasing during theproject. Databasing of grasses is likely to be completedby all countries by the end of the project.

Production of distribution maps has been identifiedas a priority, but some countries cannot produce theseand will need further assistance. There is also a con-cern over the quality of geo-referenced data. Somecountries only have geo-referenced data for somespecimens, others only provide Quarter Degree Gridresolution. There is a need for point data in all the in-stitutions. There is also no clarity concerning priori-ties: some countries try to database as many speci-mens as they can; others devote resources to capturequality information to enable mapping.

There is a lack of clarity or understanding of the divi-sion of labour between SECOSUD and SABONET, par-ticularly for databasing and mapping. There is a dan-ger that SECOSUD and SABONET will compete forthe same resources of time and expertise, particularlyin smaller institutions and in the central PRECIS sup-port unit at the NBI.

The SABONET project intends to pool the data gath-ered during the project to analyse the information ona regional basis. Such regional data is an importantresource. Sharing information highlights other issuessuch as data ownership and control of use. A draftbilateral agreement between the NBI and the NationalHerbarium of Namibia (WIND) has been drawn up.

The following recommendations were made:• A strategy outlining databasing priorities must be

produced. It is suggested that countries focus onincreasing the quality of their data to allow accu-rate mapping. Latitude and longitude details shouldbe added where possible. Proposals to database ad-ditional taxa should demonstrate the importance ofthe activity to the broader botanical community. RedData Listed taxa could be given priority.

• SABONET should support the ability to produce dis-tribution maps from PRECIS. However, SABONETshould not allocate resources to further GIS re-search, leaving this element to SECOSUD. Thereneeds to be a clear division of resources betweenthe two projects.

• A regional databasing strategy is needed. The aimof pooling data from all countries needs to be clari-fied and a product identified. This will help guidethe databasing priorities. This strategy should alsoinclude data security and the management of data.

• The draft data-sharing agreement between WINDThe beautiful stone building where the University ofLesotho Herbarium is housed. (Photo: C. Willis)


and the NBI should be completed. This documentcan then serve as a model to facilitate regionalprojects, which can highlight to the region the useand relevance of information held in the nationalinstitutes.

• The data-sharing agreement should be used bySABONET to influence governments to ensure thatlegislation covers access to genetic resources andthat information derived from them is practical anddoes not impede cross-border scientific research.This will assist countries to develop protocols andmemoranda of sharing.

• For future projects, it should be ensured that PRE-CIS can accept data transferred using internationaldata standards such as HISPID. This will maximisedata input, allow transfer of data to other regions,and facilitate future transfer to GIS.

Outputs

So far, output of products has focussed on training toincrease institutional capacity. However, in order todemonstrate this improved capacity, products must beproduced. There has been insufficient attention givento this under the project to date. In order to ensure thepositive impact of the project, the relevance of anyproducts must also be demonstrated.

Regional publications have been judged as generallyuseful, especially the Needs assessments, Plant taxo-nomic expertise and the PRECIS user guide. These pub-lications provide a good regional and internationalprofile for the project. SABONET News is widely readand appreciated and is a very valuable project output.

National publications have been few and far between.The ability to support these publications is a valuablecomponent of the project. The publication of nationalRed Data Lists is a priority. Only one national specieschecklist—that of Namibia—has been published. Com-pletion of similar checklists is only likely for some coun-tries.

National and regional species distribution maps areunlikely to be done by most countries, because seriousproblems with databasing have been experienced (in-sufficient data input, low capacity, lack of geo-refer-encing). However, regional maps for the Poaceae arepossible. Other groups could be mapped for the Floraof southern Africa (FSA) region, through the NBI.

No progress has been made in GIS and it is hoped thatSECOSUD will provide the necessary expertise for theregion. Utility and relevance of some outputs is notclear, for example the proposed vegetation maps. Theproduction of these maps would involve significantadditional investment in capacity building. Analysis ofdistribution data (hot spots, under-collected areas) canonly be carried out once all herbarium collections havebeen databased. This has been done for Namibia andcould be done for the FSA region, through the NBI.

Good progress has been made with the Red Data Listsfor most countries, even if assessments are not con-firmed or are based on old or inadequate information.This product is tangible, applied and requested by arange of users.

The suggestion that the project assists in carrying outtaxonomic revisions for the FSA and Flora Zambesiaca(FZ) regions would be another relevant output.

The evaluation team made the following recommen-dations:• Publication of Regional and National Red Data Lists

should be given high priority.• The Steering Committee should solicit suggestions

for appropriate regional and national publicationsduring the remaining part of the project. The projectshould provide financial and editorial support (ifrequired) for national as well as regional publica-tions if they can be used to demonstrate increasedcapacity.

• Priority should be given to the production of na-tional species checklists with minimum annotationsby each country under the present project. Thisshould be done using the most suitable means,which, in most cases, will not involve the use of PRE-CIS.

• Production of national and regional species distri-bution maps be given low priority, except wheredatabasing is almost complete. The Poaceae shouldreceive priority with regards to databasing and dis-tribution maps.

• SABONET News should continue in its present for-mat.

• Checklists of specific areas of interest should be pro-duced where a demonstrated need exists. Produc-tion of such checklists will demonstrate the valueof project activities and databasing. A completeddatabase is not needed to compile a comprehen-sive checklist.

• Implemention of GIS and vegetation conservationactivities should not be attempted in the remainingpart of project, unless they can be contracted out.

A view of the building in Windhoek, Namibia, where thereportback session was held. (Photo: S. Siebert)


• Analysis of species distribution data at presentshould be restricted to those countries with relativelycomplete specimen databases. A database informa-tion strategy should be implemented to include otherlabel information with distribution data analysis.

• Project activities should focus on production of re-alisable outputs within the current project timeframe. These outputs will show improved capacityand demonstrate the value of botanical informationto the broader society, for example, in conservationand utilisation. Unrealisable outputs, such as veg-etation mapping, should be dropped from thelogframe of the present project.

Botanic Gardens

Activities have only recently begun and it is thereforetoo soon to judge progress. A Needs Assessment hasbeen completed and is very useful. A regional plan-ning workshop is planned for March 2001 when pri-orities will be set. Countries have expressed the desirethat horticultural training be provided for garden staff.

The evaluation team made the following recommen-dations:• Planned activities for the remainder of the project

should follow the outputs of the March 2001 work-shop. Priorities need to be set. Activities should nottake implementation capacity away from otherproject activities aimed at outputs. Planned activi-ties are dependent on the priorities of the SSC andthe allocated budget.

Language

Portuguese-speaking countries expressed their con-cerns regarding data entry in English and the EnglishPRECIS manual. Portuguese trainees have an insuffi-cient understanding of English and cannot benefit fromuniversity training in South Africa. This also applies tothe short training courses.

The evaluation team made the following recommen-dations:• Provision must be made for pre-course training in

English for Portuguese-speaking trainees where re-quired. This may be carried out in-country at a na-tional or private institute, or could be done as partof an attachment to another botanical institution inthe region. In the latter case, the trainee would at-tend a part-time language course while also carry-ing out research or in-service training.

Capital Expenditure

Most countries have used up their capital allocation;further capital allocations have been held up by thosewho have not. All countries expressed satisfaction withthe equipment purchased and the flexibility to do so.Some countries require support for maintenance ofinfrastructure. Appreciation has been voiced for theprovision of four-wheel-drive vehicles and their run-ning costs—this has resulted in numerous field col-lecting trips.

The evaluation team made the following recommen-dations:• Participating countries should be given a few

months to utilize their remaining capital budgets.After this, whether utilized or not, there should bea budget call for a new round of capital expendi-ture for selected items to be decided by the Steer-ing Committee. This may include essential repairsthat cannot readily be done through other channels.

Regional Aspects

Under a regional project, it is important to demon-strate increased regional capacity and/or knowledge,not just increased national capacity. Different ques-tions can be asked regarding this issue:• Why a regional project and not just a series of na-

tional projects to support botanical institutions?

Training has increased the regional capacity to study our rich plant diversityin southern Africa; the motto of SABONET is LEARNING BY DOING!SABONET organises both Herbarium Management and Plant Identificationcourses for the region. (Photos: C. Willis)


• Has the project increased the voice of botany at aregional level?

• Is the regional view now stronger at continental orinternational forums?

• Has regional expertise been effectively utilised?

Most countries have looked at the national benefits ofproject activities, not at regional benefits or possibili-ties. The regional potential has not been fully realised.Expertise has mostly been used at a bilateral level.

Building regional strength could involve the following:• Protocols for data exchange between countries and

institutions• Production of a regional Red Data List• Synthesis of data at a regional level• Mentoring within the region

Namibia and South Africa are advanced in signing abilateral agreement for data exchange. This will allowNamibia to access data held at the NBI and vice versa.

The following recommendations were made:• Resources must be made available under the present

project for mentoring, using expertise availablewithin the region. This may take the form of- A specialist in a particular priority group visit-

ing other herbaria to help with identifications forperiods of a few weeks (roving specialist).

- A bilateral arrangement for a particular special-ist to visit an institution to support, advise orcarry out informal training on a specified topic.

- Research or specialist staff at a participating in-stitution visiting another regional institution fora period of a few weeks to increase their knowl-edge or exposure.

- Regional specialists being funded to provide peerreview, scientific editing, and specialist techni-cal advice on request. This would probably in-clude country visits.

• Strong efforts should be made to produce regionaloutputs, such as the regional Red Data List, check-lists of trans-boundary areas, regional distributionmaps, regional inventories of useful plants, and per-haps regional checklists. Some of these may be prob-lematic given the differing status of progress in na-tional databasing.

• The value of regional cooperation in the botanicalfield, along with the benefits of regional network-ing, should be publicised.

• Namibia and South Africa should finalise their bi-lateral data-sharing agreement; this should be re-garded as a basis for a regional protocol.

• As SABONET has only three or four Steering Com-mittee meetings left before the planned end of theproject, proposals submitted to these meetings needto be well planned. Peer review of proposals fromwithin the region may also help consolidate projectmanagement training. Care must be taken that sucha review process is simple to ensure that institutionsare not deterred from submitting proposals. A pro

forma proposal could be developed by the Secre-tariat to ensure that the Steering Committee has allthe necessary information to make a decision.

National User Workshops

National User Workshops were not originally seen asa project activity. However, the need has arisen fromthe evaluation process. A series of national workshopsof providers and users of botanical information needto be organised to address user needs in future. Thisshould form an integral part of the Exit Strategy. Fol-lowing national workshops a regional synthesis shouldbe carried out, which can include a regional workshop.The synthesis would determine the following at a re-gional level:• Who are major users of botanical information?• What sort of information do they require?• In what format do they require this information?• How can any future botanical project address this

at either a national or regional level?• Should a future project be regional or national?

The following recommendations were made:• Funds should be made available under the remain-

der of the present project to carry out a nationalworkshop in each participating country. Theseworkshops would comprise, at minimum, repre-sentatives of the following providers and users:- Herbarium staff- National Biodiversity Focal Point- Ministry of Environment (or similar)- Government/parastatal conservation agencies

(National Parks, Forestry)- University botany/forestry departments (teach-

ing and research)- Persons carrying out vegetation surveys or eco-

logical assessments- International conservation NGOs (WWF, IUCN,

etc.)- National conservation NGOs (wildlife societies,

etc.)- Environmental consultants and consulting com-

panies- Traditional plant users- Organisations concerned with botany (Tree So-

ciety, Botanical Society)- Amateur botanists, visitors to gardens (Friends

of Gardens, etc.)• The output from the workshops should be a brief

but clear indication of users, botanical informationrequired, the format in which this is required, andpriorities. These workshops should be carried outbefore the end of the current project so that resultsobtained can be used either to assist in getting fund-ing for national botanical projects, or to assist inleveraging regional funding.

• National workshops must be followed by a synthe-sis of information from the national workshops. Thesynthesis (which could be carried out in a work-shop format, or by a consultant followed by national


peer review) should be aimed at determining what,at a regional level, the major botanical informationrequirements are.

• This process should be funded by and take placeunder the auspices of SABONET. It should be di-rected at leveraging future funding for botanical in-stitutions. Representatives of all participating coun-tries should be encouraged to participate in the proc-ess.

Strengths

The project has focussed attention on plant conserva-tion as part of the Convention of Biological Diversity.Funding was focused on herbaria as repositories ofscientific information on plants. This has assisted arange of herbaria across this region to begin to getthis information into a more useable format by initiat-ing a process of computerisation. Most of the activi-ties initiated are sustainable. The project increasedhuman capacity within a range of herbaria and in vari-ous skills. Many SABONET trainees have been or arelikely to be absorbed into permanent positions. A suc-cessful network process was initiated where a rangeof botanists across the region have regular interactionwith other regional botanists. It provided a forum forcommunication among a whole range of regional andinternational botanists and those with an interest inthe subject. It also created a functional model for re-gional scientific collaboration. Activities sensitisedherbaria and regional botanists to the use of herbariumdata in applied conservation. The project enabled her-baria to collect new data through field trips. The NBI’scapacity to host the project made it a successful one.Networking and communication formed a good foun-dation to maximise regional experience through theproject.

Weaknesses

Widely differing implementation capacities are presentbetween the participating institutions. Participatinginstitutions sometimes have different roles and man-dates. Requirements and priorities differ between dif-ferent participating institutions. High staff turnovertends to be a problem with regard to training. Uncer-tainty exists over the sustainability of computerisationin some smaller herbaria. There is a lack of permanentpositions for some trained staff. Insufficient attentionwas given to how information obtained can be dissemi-nated to users and capacity produced used most effec-tively. There is differing quality of computerised datawith regards to determination, nomenclature andgeoreferencing. Project management skills needstrengthening.

Lessons Learned

The project has greatly benefited from having the sec-retariat based in a strong institution. There has beensome anxiety over a perceived lack of transparency thatcould possibly have detracted from the networking

objective. Future projects could consider ensuring thatall secretariat posts are advertised regionally and thata representative of the SSC is present at interviews,either as an observer or participant.

A regional project needs to pay particular attention tolanguage limitations among participants. Additionalallocation of resources (for example, for languagetraining) may be necessary to overcome this problem.

In order to make maximum use of acquired data, anydatabase program used should be compatible withsimilar databases elsewhere. This can be achievedthrough the use of international data standards/ex-change formats. This also includes transfer to GIS for-mats. Another facet of data transfer is to ensure thatagreements between collaborating institutions are inplace.

Dependence on information technology (IT) for projectoutputs requires that IT is adequately resourced fromthe beginning of the project and that full technicalsupport is readily available. There is a danger that thetool can become more important than the use andproducts derived from the data and can take up a dis-proportionate amount of the human resources avail-able.

In some cases, countries have not been using properreporting systems, including requests for availablefunds. There will be a need for more proactive projectmanagement. Short-term attachments to the secre-tariat may help.

Exit Strategy

The evaluation team recommends the development ofan Exit Strategy in 2002. An Exit Strategy is neces-sary for the following reasons:• It will allow the project to best realise its potential

by its programmed end.• It provides something that can be used as a launch

pad or leverage for further regional or bilateralfunding.

• It demonstrates the value of capacity built thus far

LMA Herbarium, Mozambique was also visited by theteam. (Photo: C. Willis)


through the products delivered.• It displays the project’s relevance to its stated wider

goal of “Contributing to sustainable human devel-opment through the effective conservation and uti-lisation of natural resources”.

The recommended Exit Strategy has three elements:• User Needs Assessment• Focus on outputs with high relevance to the broader

community• Increased capacity focussing on these outputs

A User Needs Assessment will identify the users of thecapacity built so far and their requirements. A nationalworkshop should be carried out in each participatingcountry before the end of the current project so thatresults obtained can be used either to assist in gettingfunding for national botanical projects, or to assist inleveraging regional funding. Outputs from these na-tional workshops should give a brief, but clear, indica-tion of the following:• Users• Botanical information required by user group• Format in which this is required• Priorities

These national workshops should be synthesisedregionally to determine• Major botanical information requirements• How this could usefully be addressed and imple-

mented at a regional level

The project should build on its existing strengths toproduce products with a high impact. Publication ofRegional and National Red Data Lists should be givenpriority. Priority should also be given to the produc-tion of national species checklists by each country, withminimum annotations, under the present project.

The Steering Committee should solicit suggestions forappropriate regional and national publications duringthe remaining part of the project. Priority should begiven to publications with the broadest impact.

Resources should be made available under the presentproject for mentoring, primarily using expertise avail-able within the region. The goal of mentoring is to en-able institutions to produce products that have a highimpact, such as national Red Data Lists or NationalChecklists, or regional products such as regional orcross-border checklists or regional distribution maps.

SABONET has only three or four Steering Committeemeetings left before the planned end of the project,therefore proposals submitted to these meetings needto be well planned. Peer review of proposals fromwithin the region may also help consolidate projectmanagement training. A pro forma proposal could bedeveloped by the Secretariat to ensure that the Steer-ing Committee has all the necessary information tomake a decision.

Future Project

If there is to be a future project, the relevance of ca-pacity gained under SABONET will have to be dem-onstrated. A new project will need to be more userand product-driven than the current project. It shouldbuild on the networking strength of SABONET andallow people to make the most of their capacity. Na-tional User workshops and a regional synthesis willbe part of the process.

National Working Groups will have to be more repre-sentative of users, and have a stronger say in direct-ing national outputs. The structure should remain simi-lar to that of SABONET, but there should be broaderparticipation of user groups in setting objectives andbroader regional participation in the Secretariat.

A future project could be either regional or national.National projects will ensure that each country’s needsare appropriately addressed. However, only somecountries in the region will get support—mostly thosewith bigger institutions. A regional project will allowthe region to speak with a stronger voice at the levelof the subcontinent. It will increase the relevance ofbotanical institutions to broader societal issuesthrough synergy and learning from others. It will alsobuild on regional strengths and expertise, and willprovide a model for other regional initiatives world-wide.

There will need to be much flexibility in terms ofproject activities and outputs given the differing im-plementation capacity across the region. Activitiesshould be wider than taxonomy and include appliedaspects such as vegetation survey, conservation as-sessments, and production of field guides. Thereshould be a series of regional outputs, such as regionalchecklists, checklists of trans-frontier conservationareas, regional distribution maps, and regional inven-tories of useful plants. Regional concerns should beincorporated as activities, for example, monitoring ofRed List species across the region and regional veg-etation surveys.

—Mr Jonathan TimberlakeBiodiversity Foundation for Africa

Box FM 730Bulawayo

ZIMBABWEE-mail: [email protected]

—Dr Alan PatonThe Herbarium

Royal Botanic Gardens KewSurrey, TW9 3AB

UNITED KINGDOME-mail: [email protected]

The final document submitted by the Mid-Term Review Team has beenaccepted by UNDP-GEF, who have informed us that they are in agree-ment with the findings and recommendations put up by the MTR proc-ess, and look forward to seeing these recommendations being imple-mented in work plans.


The fifth international workshopon biological control and man-

agement of Chromolaena odorata(L.) R.M.King & H.Rob. (=Eupato-rium L.) was held at Umhlanga,KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, from23–25 October 2000, with a post-workshop field trip from 26–28 Oc-tober. The event was organized bythe Plant Protection Research Insti-tute, Agricultural Research Coun-cil, South Africa. The purpose ofthis workshop was to facilitate thedissemination of information on thecontrol and management ofchromolaena (triffid weed), to iden-tify areas in which new research isneeded, and to foster global co-op-eration on managing and control-ling it. Delegates from six countriesin Africa attended the workshop.

Of the asteraceous species thathave become serious invadersaround the world, C. odorata (Fig-ure 1) must be considered to havethe greatest impact on the tropics(Zachariades et al. 1999). The nativerange of this scrambling perennialshrub extends from northern Ar-gentina to the southeastern UnitedStates of America. C. odorata hasinvaded many parts of thePalaotropics, including western,central and southern Africa, India,southeast Asia and Oceania (Thedistribution of Siam weed,Chromolaena odorata , in PapuaNew Guinea; A decade of biologi-cal control of the Siam weed,Chromolaena odorata , in Ghana:lessons and future plans) *. Thespread of C. odorata in Asia tookplace in the early 1800s when it wasintroduced as an ornamental plantto the Botanical Garden in Calcutta,India. In 1937 it was accidentallyintroduced to Nigeria. The Com-

Chromolaena odorataFifth International Workshop on

monwealth Institute of BiologicalControl initiated a biological con-trol programme for C. odorata in1966 with the support of the Nige-rian Institute for Oil Palm Research(History of Chromolaena odoratabiological control programmes) .An outcome of this project was theintroduction of the moth Pareu-chaetes pseudoinsulata to Ghana,Nigeria, India, Sri Lanka and Ma-laysia during 1970–1978. Based onthe encouraging results of the in-troduction of P. pseudo-insulatainto the Mariana Islands, the firstInternational Workshop onChromolaena odorata was con-ducted in Bangkok, Thailand in1988.

Besides P. pseudoinsulata, a gall fly,Procecidochares connexa, is alsoused as a biological control agent(Impact of Procecidocharesconnexa (Diptera: Tephritidae) onChromolaena odorata in differentIndonesian ecologies) . It is nowpresent at release sites in most In-donesian islands and is spreadingwell and giving good control ofChromolaena odorata four to fiveyears after release (Chromolaenain Asia and the Pacific: spreadcontinues but control prospectsimprove) . A third biological agentreported on is a butterfly, Actinoteanteas (A new biological agent inIndonesia from South Americafor the control of Chromolaenaodorata (L.) King & Robinson(Asteraceae): Actinote anteasDoubleday & Hewitson (Lepidop-tera: Nymphalidae: Acraeinae) .Until recently, biocontrol pro-grammes on the weed have focusedprimarily on the use of arthropods,with little or no consideration offungal pathogens as biological

contol agents. Several pathogenshave been reported onChromolaena odorata and are be-ing tested for use in control pro-grammes (Chromolaena odorata :biological control using plantpathogens—a South African per-spective) .

The post-workshop tour took thedelegates to the northern parts ofKwaZulu-Natal where they visitedthe Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Re-serve and the St Lucia wetland(Chromolaena odorata infestationin Hluhluwe Game Reserve—his-tory, impacts management andprospects for the future) . C.odorata forms dense impenetrablethickets hat displace other vegeta-tion, create fire hazards due to theirflammability, and invade subtropi-cal grasslands that are not burntregularly (Managing Chro-molaena odorata (chromolaena)

* Papers used to compile this report on a most informativeand interesting workshop are in bold.

Biological Control and Management of

Figure 1. Chromolaena odorata.(Drawing by A. Walters, NationalBotanical Institute, Pretoria.)


in subtropical grasslands inKwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) . C.odorata was introduced into Ghanain the late 1960s. Early attempts tocontrol the weed were mainlymanual. It was either cut to groundlevel and burnt or the stems and thesubterranean portions were up-rooted and burnt. Few commercialand medium-size farmers at-tempted the use of herbicides. Bio-logical control has been introducedsince the 1970s. The activities havesince remained in the domain of re-search scientists but are now to in-clude the farming communities.Extension agents and farmersacross the country have beentrained and will facilitate furtherreleases and monitoring of thebioagent Pareuchaetes pseudo-insulata (Ecologically sustain-able Chromolaena managementin Ghana: past, present and fu-ture role of farmer fieldschools) .

Chromolaena odorata was first re-corded in South Africa in 1947near Ndwedwe, KwaZulu-Natal(Hillliard 1977) and also from Mo-zambique, but there is virtually noinformation on its occurrence inZimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, andAngola (Figure 2)—C. odorata isinvasive in southern Africa and isdistinct in its morphology fromforms that have invaded other ar-eas of the world. Determining theexact identity and origin is impor-tant in order to ensure completecompatibility of candidates for bio-logical control. Various attempts tosolve the problem are currently inprogress (Genetic fingerprintingof Chromolaena odorata : findingthe origin of South Africa’s pest) .Comparing different features of theEupatorieae occuring in southernAfrica, the genus Mikania, withthree indigenous members, showsstrong similarity to C. odorata (Thetribe Eupatorieae (Asteraceae) insouthern Africa) and could be af-

fected by biological control agentsas reported by Zacharaides et al.(1999). In Indonesia it was observedthat Actinote anteas, in addition toC. odorata, also fed on Mikaniamicrantha , another aggressiveweed in the country. Eradication ofC. odorata by means of biologicalcontrol is therefore by no means aneasy task! In South Africachromolaena is mainly seen as athreat to conservation, but it alsohas an impact on forestry, pastoralagriculture, and other land uses(Spread, impacts and manage-

ment of Chromolaena odorata insouthern Africa) . Although aware-ness of the weed is now high in thiscountry, its spread has proceededlargely unchecked. Chromolaenaodorata is often the dominant fal-low species in the short fallow-foodcrop systems that form the basis forsubsistence and cash crop farmingalong the forest margins of south-ern Cameroon (The role ofChromolaena odorata in the shortfallow-food crop systems of theforest margins of southernCameroon) .

C. odorata does not only affect hu-mans, but also crocodiles. In a studyfrom 1994–1997, it was observedthat most of the nesting Nile croco-diles of Lake St Lucia selected open,sunny, sandy areas in which to de-posit their eggs (Alien plant

threatens Nile crocodile breed-ing in Lake St Lucia, South Af-rica) . However, nests were onlyfound in shaded sites in the MpateRiver breeding area and these nestswere shaded primarily by the alienplant Chromolaena odorata.Shaded site temperatures were wellbelow the pivotal temperature forSt Lucia’s Nile crocodiles and as aresult nests probably produced afemale-biased sex ratio. Shaded sitetemperatures may also prevent em-bryonic development altogether. Itwas observed that breeding croco-

diles in the Mpate River encoun-tered roots from C. odorata whiledigging their egg chambers. Be-ing unable to dig through the fi-brous mat of roots the crocodilesthen abandoned these sites. In amitigation experiment additionalnesting sites were created; thepercentage of sites utilised in-creased, indicating that suitablenesting sites were in short supply.Chromolaena odorata is thus alsoposing a very serious threat to thecontinued survival of the Nilecrocodile in Lake St Lucia and un-less immediate action is taken, a

female-biased sex ratio will resultin eventual extirpation of the spe-cies from this recently acclaimedWorld Heritage Site.

ReferencesHILLIARD, O.M. 1977. Compositae

in Natal. University of Natal Press,Pietermaritzburg.

ZACHARIADES, C., STRATHIE-KORRÛBEL, L.W. & KLUGE, R.L.1999. The South African pro-gramme on the biological controlof Chromolaena odorata (L.) King& Robinson (Asteraceae) usinginsects. African EntomologyMemoir 1: 89–102.

—Elizabeth RetiefNational Botanical Institute

Pivate Bag X101, Pretoria0001, South Africa

E-mail: [email protected]

IF YOU ARE AWARE OF THIS PLANT IN YOUR AREA IN AFRICA,PLEASE CONTACT

Lesley Henderson, Private Bag X101, Pretoria, 0001 South Africa, [email protected]

Figure 2. Distribution of Chromolaenaodorata in southern Africa.


Threats to data, including computer viruses, were discussed at

a recent SABONET Database Man-agers Workshop. At the workshop,data managers and capturers ex-pressed the need to know moreabout viruses, how they work, andwhat to do about them. This articleis the first in a three-part series onviruses and discusses the differenttypes of viruses.

What Is a Virus?

A computer virus can be defined invarious ways:• A computer program intention-

ally written to cause some formof damage to computer systemsor networks.

• A program that alters the way acomputer works without the per-mission or knowledge of theuser. To be considered a virus, itmust meet two criteria: self-ex-ecution and self-replication.

• A computer program or pro-gram-snippet that replicates it-self.

• A piece of programming code,not part of the original code, in-serted into an executable pro-gram.

• A computer program that is in-tentionally written to attach itselfto other programs or disk bootsectors and replicate wheneverthose programs are executed orthose infected disks areaccessed.

Virus Types

There are many different kinds ofcomputer viruses:

Boot viruses affect the informationsystem during the start-up processand are written in assembly lan-guage. They place their code in thesector whose code the machine willautomatically execute when boot-ing, so that when the machineboots, they load and run, for exam-ple, the Stoned and Michelangeloviruses.

Computer Viruses IFile/Program viruses affect theprogram files that a system mustload in order to make the softwarefunction. There are three differentkinds of File/Program viruses:• Companion viruses attach them-

selves to (or replace) executableprogram files (.com and .exefiles). When you run the infectedprogram, the virus code executesfirst. After the virus has finishedloading and executing, it loadsand executes the program it hasinfected.

• Logic bomb/time bomb virusesare pieces of code that are in pro-grams or the operating systemsof computers. They wait for par-ticular dates or events beforethey execute, and then causedamage, for example, the FuManchu virus.

• Trojan horse viruses are pro-grams that are supposed to doone thing, but when executed dosomething entirely different,usually destructive, for example,the Pkzip300 and Calculator vi-ruses.

Macro viruses are written inmacro language and are alwaysapplication-specific—they cannotattach themselves to just any pro-gram. For instance, the Laroux vi-rus will only infect Microsoft Excelfiles. These viruses attach theirmacros to templates and other filesin such a way that, when an appli-cation loads the file and executesthe instructions in it, the first in-structions to execute are those ofthe virus. Examples of macro vi-ruses are Laroux, Green Stripe,Concept, Nuclear, and WM.Cap.

Network worms are programmesthat spread through network con-nections, using usernames as pass-words and commands to copythemselves into the system. Theycan replicate through a networkmail facility and they need not at-tach to particular files or sectors atall, for example, Internet Worm,

Morris Worm, Melissa A.,Explore_zip, and PrettyPark. Al-though these viruses are so differ-ent in their makeup, they all useself-mailing as their primary repli-cation technique. These wormsmail themselves by attaching theworm to outgoing e-mail messages.

Multi-partite viruses are a com-bination of boot and file viruses, forexample, Natas.

Systemic viruses affect DOS sys-tem files, which can prevent thecomputer from operating.

Hoaxes are not viruses, but e-mailmessages that people receive andthen forward to all their friends andcolleagues, for example, a messagesaying that you will receive US$100for every copy of the message yousend to a friend or colleague. Thesemessages work like the old-fash-ioned chain letters sent by ordinarymail. Hoaxes can cause largeamounts of Internet traffic, jam-ming up servers and preventing le-gitimate e-mail from reaching re-cipients.

In the next issue of SABONETNews, we will discuss the damagecaused by viruses, methods bywhich they spread, and how to de-tect viruses.

—Hester SteynData Management Section

National Botanical InstitutePrivate Bag X101

PRETORIAE-mail: [email protected]

—Trevor ArnoldData Manager: PRECIS




The Tenth SABONET SteeringCommittee (SSC) meeting was

held at the Safari Court ConferenceCentre in Windhoek, Namibia, on6 February 2001. Dr Gillian Maggs-Kölling, Ms Coleen Mannheimer,and Ms Esmerialda Klaassen of theNational Botanical Research Insti-tute of Namibia were our hosts.

Prof. Brian Huntley—the SSCChair—and the National Coordina-tors or representatives of all tenparticipating countries, as well asthe SABONET Secretariat, at-tended the SSC Meeting. The fol-lowing 12 individuals also attendedthe meeting:• SABONET IT Centre, South Af-

rica: Mr Trevor Arnold• UNDP/GEF, Tanzania: Dr Alan

Rodgers• UNDP-Namibia: Ms Midori

SSC 10 Held in WindhoekPaxton & Ms Linda Vanherck

• UNDP-South Africa: Mr ThulaniMabaso

• Ministry of Agriculture, Na-mibia: Mr Hans Venter

• National Botanical Institute,South Africa: Mr ChristopherWillis

• SADC FSTCU, Malawi: MrErnest Misomali & Dr MzomaNgulube

• National Herbarium, Tanzania:Dr William Mziray

• Biodiversity Foundation for Af-rica, Zimbabwe: Mr JonathanTimberlake

• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,United Kingdom: Dr Alan Paton

The SSC Meeting was arranged tofall between the SABONET Mid-Term Review (MTR) reportback andthe SECODSUD Board Meeting.

This collaboration led to huge timeand financial savings for both re-gional projects.

Apart from the usual matters dis-cussed at such regional meetings,the SSC approved the implementa-tion of the recommendations thatwere put forward by the MTR team.The SSC indicated that a meetingmust be scheduled to revise theSABONET logframe and reallocatethe budget accordingly. This meet-ing is being planned for April 2001.To facilitate preparations for thismeeting, the SSC requested that allparticipating countries must pro-vide the Secretariat with theirworkplan and needs for the remain-ing 20 months of the project.

—Stefan Siebert

A Development Campaign brochure prepared by the staff of

the Witwatersrand National Bo-tanical Garden in Roodepoort/Krugersdorp, South Africa, waspublished in November 2000. Spon-sored by the Bankenveld Branch ofthe Botanical Society of South Af-rica, the brochure introduces spon-sorship opportunities and outlinescompleted projects, ongoingprojects, and proposed projectsplanned for the WitwatersrandNational Botanical Garden. Thebrochure will assist sponsors inidentifying potential areas of sup-port, and garden staff in focussingtheir fund-raising efforts towardsspecific projects.

The value of the 24 proposed futureprojects described in the brochureis R24 million. The projects includethe following:• Restaurant and Conference Fa-

cility (R3 000 000)• New Visitors’ Centre and En-

trance (R2 000 000)

Witwatersrand NBG DevelopmentCampaign Brochure

• Garden Centre and Shop(R2 000 000)

• Nursery Development(R2 000 000)

• Conservatory/Display Glass-house (R6 000 000)

• Educational theme gardens:- Magico-Medicinal Garden

(R120 000)- Fragrance Garden (R45 000)- Succulent Rockery (R120 000)- Geological Garden (R120 000)- Bushveld Area (R50 000)- Water Garden, stream and

water feature (R250 000)- Turf Grass Garden (R65 000)- Climate Garden (R50 000)

• Upgrading of bridges (R200 000)• Extension to parking area

(R500 000)• Concert stage (R80 000)• Four-wheel-drive vehicle for

fieldwork and estate manage-ment (R170 000)

The design and layout of the bro-chure was done by Ms SandraTurck; the text was edited by Ms

Emsie duPlessis (bothof the NBI,P r e t o r i a ) .Similar bro-chures areplanned foreach of SouthAfrica’s seven other National Bo-tanical Gardens. Those for the Pre-toria and Lowveld NBGs are cur-rently in preparation.

More information on the projectsand the brochure can be requesteddirectly from the Curator of theWitwatersrand NBG, Ms SharonTurner, at the following address:Ms Sharon TurnerWitwatersrand NBGP.O. Box 2194Wilropark 1731South AfricaTel.: (27) 11 958 1750Fax: (27) 11 958 1752E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.nbi.ac.za/frames/witsfram.htm


The course participants, demonstrators and SABONET staff.

BACK: Comfort Nhleko (Swaziland), Jacob Phiri (Botswana), Cidalio Francisco (Angola), Carlos Zita (Mozambique), TrevorArnold (NBI Data Management, South Africa), Khotso Sepamo (Lesotho), Hester Steyn (NBI Data Management, SouthAfrica), Franco Alberts (SABONET Programmer), Stefan Siebert (SABONET Regional Coordinator)

MIDDLE: Nikaya Govender (Demonstrator, South Africa), Gladys Msekandiana (Malawi), Nonkululeko Swelankomo(South Africa), Ruvimbo Gwenzi (Zimbabwe), Nancy Mugarisanwa (Zimbabwe), Esmerialda Klaassen (Demonstrator,Namibia), Samira Izidine (Demonstrator, Mozambique), Ana Bela Amude (Mozambique), Shaibu Kananji (Malawi)

FRONT: John Tloubatla (NBI, South Africa), Monicah Kabelo (Botswana), Clara Chisongo (Zambia), Puleng Matebesi(Lesotho), Nyasha Rukazhanga-Noko (SABONET Administrative Officer), Annaniah Sakala (Demonstrator, Zambia),Anthony Mapaura (Demonstrator, Zimbabwe) (Photo: Adela Romanowski)

The week of 5–9 December sawyet another successful

SABONET course presented at theNational Herbarium, Pretoria. MrTrevor Arnold and the newly ap-pointed SABONET programmer,Mr Franco Alberts, presented a Da-tabase Management Course for be-ginners. Fourteen participants

Database Management Course for Beginners

from nine of the ten SABONETcountries attended this regionalcourse. The main focus of thecourse was basic computer tech-niques, database management, anddata backup; these skills are neces-sary to ensure rapid computerisa-tion of plant specimens in thesouthern African herbaria. Five re-

source persons with proficiency inWindows 98 and the PRECIS data-base acted as demonstrators dur-ing the course. The demonstratorswere from Mozambique, Namibia,South Africa, Zambia and Zimba-bwe. Five regional SABONETcourses are planned for 2001.

—Stefan Siebert

Samira Izidine from Mozambique acted asdemonstrator for students from Portuguese-speaking countries. (Photo: Adela Romanowski)

Students hard at work: Khotso Sepamofrom Lesotho and Comfort Nhleko fromSwaziland. (Photo: Adela Romanowski)


All the herbaria involved in theSABONET project have been

capturing data in the last couple ofyears (Siebert & Willis 2000). Com-puterised herbarium specimens of-fer improved access to large quan-tities of data as well as expandedanalytical potential. In this article,we discuss the many ways in whichsuch data can be used.

Available Data

The following types of informationon herbarium specimens can becomputerised:

Localities Locality information isavailable at a number of differentlevels.

Minor and precise localities, forexample, “Nyika Plateau, LakeKaulime, marshy area on easternbank”, can be used to map the dis-tribution of a species or vegetationin small areas such as small naturereserves.

When collecting certain species forspecific projects, for example,anatomy, revision work, geneticresources, Red Data species, orpharmacological testing, computer-ised locality information enablesone to go directly to a locality andnot waste too much time searchingfor the species.

Habitat Information When used incombination with locality data,habitat information can speed upthe process of finding a specificspecies in the database; it is alsouseful for locating a rare speciesthat needs monitoring.

Habitat information from the data-base can also be incorporated inpublications. An example of thiscan be found in Grasses of south-

ern Africa (Gibbs Russell et al.1990).

Date of Collection Flowering orfruiting times can be deduced fromherbarium specimens, becausegood herbarium material should befertile with flowers and/or fruit.Such information is useful for thetiming of field trips, for example,when you need to collect fruit for agenus under revision.

In Red Data List work, the collec-tion dates can give an indication ofa species that may need to be con-sidered. Possible habitat changescan be inferred from large discrep-ancies between collecting dates andwhen a species appears no longerto be collected. For example,Prionanthium dentata was first col-lected in 1775, next collected 1975,and thereafter only collected twicein the 1980s, indicating a very rarespecies.

Through analysis of collectiondates, the date of introduction andthe spread of weeds and other al-ien species can be obtained.

Flowering and fruiting times canalso be included in a publication.

Type Specimens A record of typespecimens in herbarium collectionsgive researchers an indication ofwhich herbarium to apply to for theloan of types when doing research.

Database Products

Distribution Maps A grid refer-ence is necessary for each speci-men if the data is to be used for dis-tribution maps. Once precise local-ity information has been databased,distribution maps for each taxoncan be generated and these havemany applications. Maps are like

symbols or illustrations; there is nolanguage barrier and informationcan be interpreted quickly.

Maps can be drawn on a nationalor regional basis, indicating thenumber of species or specimensper grid square (Figure 1). In addi-tion to showing each herbariumhow their collections are made up,such maps indicate areas that areunder-collected and are invaluablein the planning of general collect-ing field trips.

Maps are useful when doing iden-tifications: if there is no record ofthe particular taxon in or near thelocality of the specimen under con-sideration, it may mean the identi-fication is wrong. One can see thisat a glance when looking at a map.It can also indicate that the localitygiven or the label attached is incor-rect. Points on a map that appearas outliers from the main distribu-tion could mean that a particularspecimen has been incorrectly

HerbariaBenefits of Data Capturing in

Figure 1. Distribution map showingthe number of computerisedspecimens in the National Herbarium,Pretoria. Grey cells represent gridsquares with 1–24 computerisedspecimens; black cells represent gridsquares with 25+ computerisedspecimens.


named or encoded; this is useful forquality control of the collectionand/or information in the data base.

Maps give invaluable informationto researchers involved in researchon specific taxa or groups of plants.Distribution maps are often pub-lished in the final paper(s).

When publishing a new species,maps are included to show the ex-tent of distribution. It therefore in-creases the information availableon the species being described andshows possible geographical linkswith similar species.

Projects such as a Red Data List alsobenefit from maps. A shortlist ofpossible threatened candidates canbe drawn up by analysing distribu-tion maps to see which taxa appearto have a restricted distribution or

a limited number of collections.

Maps can be used as part of thestarting point in conservation ac-tions to see which areas may needto be conserved.

Weed distribution can be moni-tored. This helps with control andpossible prevention of alien plantinvasions, as the distribution mapsalert botanists to areas where par-ticular weeds are found.

Gazetteer Because grid referencesare added to the specimen data thatis used for distribution maps, thecomputerized information can beused to compile a gazetteer of placenames by combining grid refer-ences and locality names. This canbe a valuable product of PRECIS incountries where a gazetteer is notyet available.

Lists Lists of species per grid canbe generated on a national or re-gional basis. Such lists can be usedas the basis of checklists for collect-ing trips; lists can also be generatedon request for interested membersof the public.

An indication of the biodiversity ofan area can be obtained by listingall taxa recorded. Such an area caneither be small and local, a NationalPark, for example, or regional, likethe SABONET countries.

Lists can also be used for curato-rial purposes, as problems are of-ten highlighted and can then berectified. An example of incorrectencoding at the National Her-barium, Pretoria, is that of Lagarusovatus, a monotypic genus from theMediterranean. It is not likely tooccur in Namibia, but a number of

Creating MapsUsing PRECIS Specimen Database, the button “Mappit Output” (Reports menu) runs a report to generatea list of grid references for a selected family, genus or species (Prentice & Arnold 1998). Grid references(for example, 2123AC) are then written to a file (see Figure 2), which can be converted to the requiredformat and imported into Mappit or ArcView to create a distribution map (Figure 3). Each dot on the maprepresents a record of a specimen in the database that was collected in a specific quarter degree grid.

Figure 3. Distribution map of Hyparrhenia hirta based on datafrom participating SABONET herbaria. The map was createdusing MAPPIT.

*LEGEND

=Hyparrhenia hirta(L.) Stapf

1713DA

1813BB

1917BC

1917CA

2025BB

2216BD

2216DB

2216DD

2217AD

2217CA

2217CB

2317CA

2329BB

2329CD

2329DD

Figure 2. Part of the list of gridreferences for Hyparrhenia hirta.


Stipagrostis specimens collected inNamibia had been wrongly en-coded as Lagarus (Craven 1999). Atthe time of encoding these speci-mens, the number system was usedat PRE. These specimens were en-coded under 9902600 (Lagarus), in-stead of 9902611 (Stipagrostis), amore likely genus for Namibia.Since the specimens were correctlyfiled, but the data was incorrect, ittook a long time to rectify the mis-take in such a large collection.

Using GIS

In a recent issue of SABONETNews, it was stressed that compu-terised information will be far morevaluable in future if the data is suit-able for data manipulation tech-niques such as Geographical Infor-mation Systems (GIS) (Siebert &Willis 2000). GIS technology has thepotential to expand the applicationsof botanical databases throughprocesses such as overlay of collec-tion site data with natural resourceand political data. The botanicalGIS could allow spatial queries thata herbarium database alone cannot,such as identifying new areas tosearch for rare species based on theoccurrence of habitat characteris-tics matching those of known col-lection sites. In this way it couldbecome an important tool in stud-ies of endangered species and con-servation efforts (Rhoads &Thompson 1992).

Because of highly variable localityinformation, there is much botani-cal data locked into databases that

cannot be easily analysed usingGIS. Within the SABONET Projectthe standardizing of the collectionof locality information for her-barium specimens will greatly en-hance the usefulness of the result-ing databases. When locality is re-corded using precise measure-ments, a variety of maps can be cre-ated and it is possible to overlay thedistribution data with topographi-cal, geological or other environ-mental data. However, data gath-ered only at a low level of resolu-tion (country or region) cannot beused to show a more highly definedlocality (Burrough in Rhoads &Thompson 1992). To be analysedspatially, botanical data must havelocality information that can be re-lated to a point on a map (Rhoads& Thompson 1992).

In this regard, georeferencing is ofthe utmost importance (Siebert &Willis 2000) and precise distributioninformation, for example, decimaldegrees should be attached to com-puterised specimens where possi-ble. Distribution informationshould be in one of the followingformats: grid reference; degrees,minutes and seconds; degrees deci-mal. If the specimen label only hasa description of the locality but nolatitude/longitude information, agazetteer and/or map should beused to find the precise locality. Inthe PRECIS Specimen Database,the corresponding quarter degreegrid reference is automatically in-serted once the longitude and lati-tude values have been entered. Thequarter degree grid reference of the

specimen locality should only beentered when degrees, minutes andseconds, or degrees decimal valuesare not available.

ReferencesCRAVEN, P. (ed.). 1999. A checklist

of Namibian plant species.SABONET Report Series No. 7.SABONET, Namibia.

GIBBS RUSSELL, G.E., WATSON, L.,KOEKEMOER, M., SMOOK, L.,BARKER, N.P., ANDERSON, H.M.& DALLWITZ, M.J. 1990. Grassesof southern Africa. Memoirs of theBotanical Survey of South Africa58: 1–356.

PRENTICE, C.A. & ARNOLD, T.H.1998. PRECIS. Specimen Databaseuser guide. SABONET ReportSeries No. 3. SABONET, SouthAfrica.

RHOADS, A.F. & THOMPSON, L.1992. Integrating herbarium datainto a geographic informationsystem: requirements for spatialanalysis. Taxon 41: 43–49.

SIEBERT, S.J. & WILLIS, C.K. 2000.Computerisation Update.SABONET News 5(3): 182–184.

—Lyn FishNational Herbarium



—Hester SteynData Management Section




National Botanic Gardens of MalawiThere are three National Botanic

Gardens in Malawi: Zomba Bo-tanic Garden in the south, LilongweBotanic Garden in central Malawi,and Mzuzu Botanic Garden in thenorthern region. Sir AlexanderWhyte, who worked as a govern-ment botanist under the Britishadministration, established ZombaBotanic Garden between 1891 and1895. The garden served as an ex-perimental garden for ornamentalsand economic plants collected fromthe British Empire. Lilongwe andMzuzu Botanic Gardens were es-tablished in 1989, two years afterthe establishment of the NationalHerbarium and Botanic Gardens ofMalawi as an independent institu-tion. The Lilongwe and Mzuzu Gar-dens were established with the pur-pose of conserving regional flora.

The gardens serve as• Systematic collections of the rep-

resentatives of the major plantfamilies, and the vegetationtypes of Malawi including indig-enous and exotic plant species ofboth economic and medicinalvalue.

• Conservation areas for threat-ened, endangered, endemic, andindigenous species of Malawi.

• Environmental and educational

facilities.• Testing grounds for introduced

botanical materials in collabora-tion with other appropriate in-stitutions.

• Areas for the promotion ofgreater knowledge and expertisein horticulture.

• Areas of public amenity andpromenade.

• Areas for carrying out researchon the flora and vegetation ofMalawi.

The living collections of the threegardens are at different stages ofdevelopment. The living collectionin Zomba Botanic Garden is di-verse, owing to its existence forover 100 years. Mzuzu andLilongwe Gardens have concen-trated on ex situ conservation offlora specific to the surroundingareas. Because the living collectionsin the three gardens are so dissimi-lar, I describe them separately inthis article.

Zomba Botanic Garden

The garden is located in the Munici-pality of Zomba, Malawi’s old capi-tal, which experiences a cool tem-perature climate, owing to its prox-imity to the Zomba Plateau. It re-

ceives rainfall of around 2 000 mmper year, making it ideal for a largenumber of both indigenous andexotic species such as Pinus patulaand Newtonia buchananii. At its es-tablishment between 1891 and1895, the garden covered 20 ha. Thegarden was later handed over tothe Forestry Department, which ledto the loss of many species such asGinkgo biloba, Solandra gattatu,Xeroderris stuhlmanii and Aleuritesmontana. The area occupied by thegarden was increased to 50 hawhen its management was handedover to National Herbarium andBotanic Gardens in 1989. Todaythere are over 500 species in thegarden; 200 of these have been in-troduced during the past ten years.

Figure 1. Some of the epiphytic orchidsgrown at Zomba Botanic Garden.


Fern Collection

Approximately 206 fern specieshave been recorded in Malawi; 25of these are cultivated in the gar-den, especially along the streambanks. The species Adiantumpoirettii, Cheilanthes quadripnnata,Cheilanthes viridis var. glauca,Doryopteris poiretii, Pellaeaangulosa, Pellaea doniana, Pteriscatoptera, and Pteris friesii domi-nate and have adapted well to thecool temperatures of Zomba.

Orchid Collection

There are over 400 species of or-chids recorded in Malawi. Twelveepiphytic orchids species arepropagated in wood charcoal anddead wood under a shed (Figure 1),including Ansellia africana, Bulbo-phyllum sandersonii, Angraecopsisparviflora, Angraecum cochiferum,Acampe praemorsa, Calyptrochilumchristyanum, Cytorchis arcuata andBulbophyllum malawiense. In addi-tion, four terrestrial orchid specieshave been introduced to the gar-den, especially those with edibletubers such as Disa spp., Habenariawalleri and Satyrium spp.

Cycad Collection

Encephalartos gratus is the onlycycad indigenous to Malawi andendemic to Mulanje Mountain (Fig-ure 2). This species was planted in

the garden in the 1970s. Cycasrevoluta has also been planted.

Succulent Collection

This collection can be found on therockery areas of the garden. Thefamily Aloeaceae is represented by17 indigenous species, for example,Aloe arborescens, A buchananii, Abuttneri, A cameronii, A canii, Achristianii, A cryptopoda, A duckeri,A excelsa, A greatheadii, A mawii,A menyharthii, A myrianthii, Amzimbana, A nultii, A swynnertonii,and A zebrina (Figure 3). More than50 indigenous and exotic Aloe spe-cies were collected from the south-ern region and are cultivated, withmost flowering in winter andspring; a few species flower in sum-mer. Unfortunately, some speciessuffer from bacterial and fungal in-fections during the wet season.Succulent and xerophytic speciesbelonging to Euphorbiaceae,Cactaceae, Agavaceae, Amarylli-daceae and Crassulaceae are alsocultivated.

Grass Collection

Four years ago, 23 grass specieswere introduced in the garden. Ex-otic grass species have also beenplanted, including Vetiveriazizaniodes, Pennistum parpureumand Hyparrhenia sp. Two indig-enous bamboos—Oreobambusbuchwaldii and Oxytenanthera

obyssinca—and three exotic bam-boo species—Bambusa glau-cescens, Bambusa vulgaris, andDendrocalamus strictus—areamong the living grass collection.Although the grasses do not pro-duce colourful flowers, this is oneof the most attractive areas in thegarden (Figure 4).

Wildflower Collection

Eleven wildflower species have sofar been collected for cultivation.These are Crinum macowanii,Dissotis princeps, Helichrysumnitens, Plectranthus pubescens,Costus spectabilis, Vernonia nata-lensis, Erythrocephalum zambezi-anum, Streptcarpus goetzei,Pyrrosia schimperiana, Aneilemajohnstonii, and Impatiens eryaleia.These flower all the year round ifwatered regularly.

Economic Plant Collection

Zomba Botanic Garden has con-centrated on the collection andpropagation of wild fruits, for ex-ample Uapaca kirkiana, Azanzagarckeana, Tamarindus indica, andTerminalia catappa. Wild vegeta-bles, such as Bidens pilosa, Gynan-dropsis gynandra, and Amaranthussp. are also displayed.

Figure 2. Part of the cycad collection inthe Zomba garden.

Figure 3. A view of the Aloe collection at Zomba Botanic Garden


Herbaceous Collection

Herbaceous plants include annuals,perennials, and ornamental plantsthat are cultivated for their colour-ful flowers. This collection is forboth commercial purposes anddisplay and includes herbaceousperennials such as Salviasplendens, Chrysanthemum spp.,Lobelia spp., Bulbine caulescensand Tulbaghia violacea.

Tree and Shrub Collection

This is a representative collectionof Malawian and introducedtrees of this part of Africa. Em-phasis is placed on the ex situconservation of plants which arethreatened and rare, as well asthose with horticultural uses andwood products. The garden alsohas a collection of palms.

Other Collections

The Zomba Botanic Garden nurs-ery contains indigenous and exotictree seedlings, ornamentals, andmedicinal plants. The tree seedlingsare sold or supplied to the publicto encourage community participa-tion. Ornamental plant species aresold for landscaping to generatefunds for the botanic gardens (Fig-ure 5).

Lilongwe Botanic Garden

Lilongwe Botanic Garden is thesecond largest of the three gardenswith a total area of 130.68 hectares.It is situated in the heart ofLilongwe City in the central regionof Malawi. The garden experiencesa warm climate, receiving an an-nual rainfall of 2 000 mm, and isdominated by Combretum and Aca-cia. The garden was initially plantedwith Gmelina arborea trees in the1970s, which are being uprooted instages to encourage the growth ofindigenous trees and shrubs andallow introduction of other species.Over 200 species grow naturally inthe garden; some 100 species havebeen introduced.

Aloe Collection

This is a collection representing in-digenous aloes of Malawi collectedfrom drier parts of the central re-gion of the country, including Aloe

cameronii and Aloe chabaudii.Regular field trips are undertakento increase the aloe collection.

Bulb Collection

Bulbous plants from the central re-gion are collected and cultivated inthe garden. Only four species areunder cultivation: Albuca sp., Taccasp., Anthericum sp. and Boophanedisticha. These species produce col-ourful flowers in winter and sum-mer.

Economic Plant Collection

The Lilongwe Garden includes alarge area of orchard crops. Over20 species are under cultivationhere. Visitors also come to the or-

chard to see and learn moreabout the different species andvarieties of fruit crops. Bothtropical and temperate fruit spe-cies are on display, includingmangoes, peaches, avocados,guavas, macadamias, apples,papaws, and granadillas. Thereis also a 0.5 ha vegetable gardenwhere cabbage, mustard, toma-toes, onions, eggplants, andgreen maize are cultivated. Theproduce is sold to generate in-come for the botanic garden.


Herbaceous plants include annuals,perennials, and ornamental plantsthat are cultivated for their colour-ful flowers. This collection is forboth commercial purposes and dis-play and includes herbaceous per-ennials such as Salvia splendens,Chrysanthemum spp., Lobelia spp.,Bulbine caulescens and Tulbaghiaviolacea.


This collection represents the indig-enous trees of the drier Combre-

Figure 5. The Zomba Botanic Garden nursery contains indigenous and exotic treeseedlings, ornamentals, and medicinal plants.

Figure 4. Some of the grasses growing in theGrass Collection of the Zomba garden.


tum-Acacia woodlands of the cen-tral region. The collection serves asmaterial for display, research, andeducation. In addition, 100 tree spe-cies have been introduced toLilongwe, including representa-tives of the Combretaceae, Cae-salpiniaceae, Euphorbiaceae,Ebenaceae, Mimosaceae, Papilio-naceae, and Rhamnaceae.

Other Collections

The Lilongwe Garden nursery con-tains indigenous and exotic treeseedlings, ornamentals, and me-dicinal plants, which are sold orgiven free to communities. Orna-mental plant species are sold forlandscaping and decoration pur-poses.

Mzuzu Botanic Garden

Mzuzu Botanic Garden covers atotal area of 478 ha. It is situated inthe city of Mzuzu in the northernregion. The garden experiencescool temperatures and receives anannual rainfall of 3 000 mm. It isdominated by evergreen tree spe-cies such as Syzygium sp., Uapacakirkiana, and Brachystegia taxifolia.Most of the garden is managed as Figure 7. At Mzuzu Botanic Garden, the surrounding communities are allowed

to utilise the grass for thatching.

a nature reserve and only a smallportion has been landscaped.


Herbaceous plants include annuals,perennials, and ornamental plantsthat are cultivated for their colour-ful flowers. This collection is forboth commercial purposes and dis-play and includes herbaceous per-ennials such as Salvia splendens,Chrysanthemum spp., Lobelia spp.,Bulbine caulescens and Tulbaghiaviolacea.

Terrestrial Orchid Collection

Over ten terrestrial orchids grownaturally in the garden, includingDisa sp., Eulophia sp., Platycorynemediocris, Satyrium buchananii,and Biophytum sp. (Figure 6).

Grass Collection

Many indigenous grass speciesgrow naturally in Mzuzu BotanicGarden. Some of the species areused in construction work in thegarden, for example, thatching. Thesurrounding communities are al-lowed to cut the grass for personaluse. Some dominant grass speciesare Andropogon eucomus, Cym-bopogon densiflorus, Eragrotisracemosa, Imperata cylindrica,

Figure 6. A terrestrial orchid growingnaturally in the Mzuzu Botanic Garden.

Panicum sp., Tristachya sp., andSporobolus sp. (Figure 7).


In situ conservation has made thebotanic garden rich in evergreentrees such as Syzygium, Uapaca,and Brachystegia. Newtoniabuchananii and Khaya anthothecahave been introduced along theriver. These plants serve as mate-rial for display, research and edu-cation.

Maintenance of the Collections

The plant collections in Zomba,Lilongwe, and Mzuzu Botanic Gar-dens are a valuable resource. Timeand money are put into trainingstaff members to maintain thesecollections. The programme ofwork and maintenance culturalpractices are documented, so thatthese are accessible to others whomay want to use them. Our gardensare for posterity.

—Lloyd NkolomaZomba Botanic Garden

MALAWIFax: (265) 524 108


The National Botanic Garden of Zimbabwe

The National Botanic Garden ofZimbabwe is the main ex situ in-

digenous plant conservation centrein the country. The botanic gardenfalls under the National Herbariumand Botanic Garden, an institute ofthe Department of Research andExtension Services, Ministry ofLands, Agriculture and Rural Re-settlement. The 67 ha garden is lo-cated about 4 km north of theHarare City Centre within the sub-urb of Alexandra Park. It receivesa wide spectrum of visitors that in-cludes student groups, tourists, andresearchers.

The Botanic Garden’s layout (Fig-ure 1) makes it conveniently suitedfor educational, research, and rec-reational purposes, while at thesame time serving the purpose ofconserving the indigenous flora ofZimbabwe. The greater part of thegarden is dedicated to the Zimba-bwean flora, housing approxi-mately 80% of the indigenouswoody plant species of the country.

The garden is divided into the fol-lowing sections:• The Zimbabwean Section is ar-

ranged according to ecologicalzones.

• The Systematic Collections com-prise selected taxa from the con-tinent.

• The Exotic Sections of the gar-den hold tropical plant collec-tions arranged according to theirareas of origin.

• The African Savanna WoodlandSection is a collection of plantsfrom the African savanna areas(with the exclusion of Zimbab-we).

• Collections of succulents fromAfrica and the New World com-prise the Succulent Sections.Plants from arid zones of south-ern Africa constitute the DesertHouse Collection.

• The Economic Section is a col-lection of plants economic im-portance from the world over.

• A collection of herbs used bypeople for various purposesmakes up the Herb Garden.

• Forest plants from the Africancontinent make up the AfricanForest Section, and forest plantsfrom South Africa comprise theSouth African Rainforest Collec-tion.

• The Ornamental Collection sur-rounds the Herbarium building.

Zimbabwean Section

The Zimbabwean Section com-prises collections of plants ar-ranged to depict the main vegeta-tion types of Zimbabwe.

Natural Miombo Woodland

This collection consists of the natu-ral vegetation of the area as it wasprior to the development of the gar-den. Mature specimens of musasaBrachystegia spiciformis andmunhondo Julbernardia globiflora,the dominant species of the Zimba-bwean Miombo grow in this sec-tion of the garden.

Open Miombo Woodland/Highveld Savanna

This is a collection of trees com-monly occurring in the highveldarea. The common genera in thistype of woodland are Brachystegiaand Julbernardia. Prominent spe-cies in this collection are musasaBrachystegia spiciformis, mountain


acacia B. glaucescens, munhondoJulbernardia globiflora, andmuwanga Pericopsis angolensis(Figure 2).

Highveld Riverine

This is a collection of plants fromthe riverine areas in the highveld.Growing in this collection are wil-low rhus Rhus lancea, Natal milkplum Englerophytum magalis-montanum, wild olive Olea europeasubp. africana, and river com-bretum Combretum erythro-phyl-lum.

Lowveld Zambezi Valley

Contained in this collection areplants from the hot, semi-arid Zam-bezi Valley area in the north of thecountry. Zambezi teak Baikiaeaplurijuga, manketti-nut Schin-ziophyton rautanenii, tick tree Ster-culia africana, jesse bush(Combretaceae-dominated thick-ets), false mopanes Guibortiacoleosperma and G. conjugata, andtorch-wood Balanites maughamiigrow here.

Lowveld Save-Limpopo Valley

This is a collection of plants fromthe hot semi-arid Save-LimpopoValley area in the south of the coun-try. The species composition of this

vegetation is very similar to that ofthe Zambezi Valley area. Of notehere is a fine specimen of thebaobab Adansonia digitata (Figure4), as well as tamboti Spirostachysafricana and mopane Colophos-permum mopane.

Lowveld Riverine

This collection is of plants from theriverine areas of the lowveld. Treesgrowing in this collection includeilala palm Hyphaene petersiana,natal mahogany Trichilia emetica,and ebony Diospyros mespiliformis.

Low Altitude Rainforest

This forest is modelled on theHaron-Makurupini Forest in theEastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.Striking species in this section in-clude giant red mahogany Khayaanthotheca, forest ordeal treeErythrophleum suaveolens, andmujajaira Newtonia buchananii.

Medium Altitude Rainforest

Modelled on the Chirinda Forest,this collection contains almost allthe tree species from that area. Theforest fever tree Anthocleistagrandiflora, brown-berry fluted milkwood Chrysophylum gorungosum,and the massive strangler fig Ficusroko are grown here.

High Altitude Rainforest

This rainforest is modelled to de-pict the montane vegetation of theEastern Highlands. An artificialmountain stream cascades througha small valley flanked with forestferns. Some of the trees in this areaare the emergent forest albiziaAlbizia schimperana, the parasoltree Polyscias fulva, and yellow-wood Podocarpus latifolia.

Forest Margins

This collection comprises plantsfrom the margins of forests in theEastern Highlands area. Prominentspecies in this area includemuranga Warburgia salutaris,bivinia Bivinia jalbertii, pinkdombeya Dombeya burgessiae, andthe rare northern mountain bam-boo Oreombambos buchwaldii.

The Lake

Aquatic and marginal plants growin and around this artificial lake, in-cluding water lilies Nymphaeanouchali, bulrushes Typha capensis,and the Okavango water fig Ficusverruculosa (Figure 5).

Systematic Section

Combretaceae

This section is devoted to all theCombretaceae genera from south-ern tropical Africa: Combretum,Terminalia, Pteleopsis, and Meiste-mon. Included are some Zimba-bwean species, such as mususuTerminalia sericea, soft-leavedcombretum Combretum molle, andlead-wood Combretum imberbe.

Acacia

This collection contains Acacia spe-cies from Zimbabwe and adjacentcountries. Plants growing in thissection and occurring in Zimbabweinclude fever acacia Acaciaxanthophloea, Nyanga flat-top Aca-cia abyssinica, and camel thornAcacia erioloba.

Figure 1. Map of the National Botanical Garden of Zimbabwe.


Ficus

Growing in this section is a collec-tion of fig species from the Africancontinent. The following figs thatoccur in Zimbabwe are also in-cluded: Zambezi rapids fig Ficuscyathistipula, strangler fig Ficusthonningii, and lowveld fig Ficusstuhlmanii.

Brachystegia

This section is devoted to the Zim-babwean Brachystegia species, in-cluding Brachystegia spiciformis, B.boehmii, and B. glaucescens.

Exotic Section

This section contains collections oftrees from tropical areas with cli-matic conditions that are similar toour own.

Asian Collection

Of note amongst the plants grow-ing in this collection are Burma teakTectonia grandiis, Indian terminaliaTerminalia bellerica, and yellowflame tree Peltophorum ptero-carpum.

Australian Collection

Species to be found in this collec-tion include the cajeput treeMelaleuca quinquenervia, the euca-lypt Eucalyptus toreliana, and theAustralian flame tree Brachychitonaceriformis.

South American Collection

South American trees in this sec-tion include the leopard tree

Caesalpinia ferea, Tabebuaimpetiginosa, Erythrina fulculta,and monkey-puzzle Araucariaangustifolia.

African Savanna Woodland

Growing in this section is a collec-tion of trees and shrubs from East,West, and southern Africa, exclud-ing Zimbabwe. The section fea-tures pink jacaranda Stereo-spermum kunthianum and Zam-bian albizia Albizia coriaria.

African Rainforest

This is a collection of forest plantsfrom the African continent. Occur-ring in this section are burttdavyaBurttdavya nyassica, feverberryCroton megalocarpus, and the Af-rican flame tree Spathodea cam-panulata.

South African Rainforest

Growing in this area are bastardumzimbeet Milletia sutherlandiimountain cedar Widdringtonianodiflora, Natal strelitzia Strelitzianicolai, and wild pear Harpephyl-lum caffrum.

Succulent Section

African Succulent Collection

This is a collection of succulentsfrom the African continent. Strik-ing species grown in this collec-tion include the Sabi star Adeniummultiflorum, milk-woods Euphor-bia spp., and the Madagascanalluaudia Alluaudia procera.

New World Succulents

This collection comprises mainlycacti from central and SouthAmerica, including prickly pearsOpuntia spp., golden barrel Echi-nocactus grusonii, and peruvianapple Cereus peruvianus.

Desert House

This unique stone-walled green-house with a louvered north-fac-ing glass roof holds plants fromthe arid areas of southern Africa

(Figure 4). The main collection isfrom Namibia and the winter rain-fall areas of South Africa, as wellas some specimens from the Karoo.Plants from the arid areas of Zim-babwe are also grown here. Plantsinclude stone plants Lithops spp.,welwitschia Welwitschia mirabilis,halfmens Pachypodium nama-quanum, and various species ofAloe, Euphorbia, and Commiphora.

Economic Section

This collection comprises plants ofcommercial value, including teaCamelia sinensis, coffee Coffeaarabica, and the Brazilian rubbertree Havea brasiliensis.

Herb Garden

Culinary, medicinal, cosmetic, andinsect-repellent herbs feature inthis collection. The majority are ofexotic origin, including aloe veraAloe barbadensis, ginger Zingiberofficinale, and thyme Thymus spp.The herb garden also contains agrowing collection of indigenousherbs.

Figure 2. The Highveld Savanna.(Photo: A. Mapaura)

Figure 3. A baobab specimen in the LowveldSave-Limpopo Valley area. (Photo: A.Mapaura)


Figure 4. Inside the Desert House. (Photo: A. Mapaura)

The Ornamental Collection

The ornamental collection gracesour herbarium surrounds, gardenentrances, and car park. This col-lection contains gardenornamentals from around theworld, for example, flamboyantDelonix regia, purple glory-bushTibouchina granulosa, royal palmRoystonea oleracea, the silk-cottontree Chorisia speciosa, pandanuspalm Pandanus utilis, and thedragon tree Draceana draco.

Garden Maintenance

An intensive maintenance plan hasbeen established for all the gardencollections, with staff being as-signed to the various sections tocarry out routine maintenance ac-tivities. Three horticulturists whoare responsible for the differentsections, manage the garden. AllenMicho is responsible for the nurs-ery area and propagates plants formaintaining and expanding thegarden collection, and for selling tothe public. Esther Makombe is incharge of the ornamental sectionsaround the restaurant, educationcentre, herbarium, car park, andgarden entrances. Andrew Mang-warara is in charge of general gar-den maintenance activities likemowing the lawns and pruning thetrees.

—Soul ShavaNational Herbarium &

Botanic GardenHarare

ZimbabweEmail: [email protected]

Figure 5. The Botanic Garden Lake. (Photo: S. Siebert)


The Global Taxonomy Initiative(GTI) Africa Regional Work-

shop was held at the KirstenboschNational Botanical Garden, CapeTown, South Africa, from 27 Feb-ruary to 1 March 2001. The work-shop was hosted by the NationalBotanical Institute of South Africaand the National Herbarium andBotanic Gardens of Malawi, underthe auspices of the Convention onBiological Diversity (CBD), withfunding from the Swedish Interna-tional Development Co-operationAgency (SIDA). Following theworkshop some delegates em-barked on a four-day field trip toplaces of interest in the Cape Flo-ral Kingdom and adjacent arid ar-eas of the southern and westernCape.

GTI Africa Regional Workshop

The Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI) Africa Regional Workshop was held at the Kirstenbosch National BotanicalGarden, Cape Town, South Africa, and was attended by 43 delegates representing 32 countries.

The workshop was attended by 43delegates, representing 32 coun-tries (23 African) and 36 institutionsor organisations. Of these, 21 del-egates from African countries weresponsored by SIDA. No less than13 delegates from Northern insti-tutions attended the workshop.This provided an excellent oppor-tunity to forge and strengthen linksfor North-South collaboration.Many existing links amongst Afri-can delegates were renewed andothers initiated during the work-shop.

Important aspects discussed duringthe workshop included• What is the GTI? Provisions, op-

erational strategies, Plan ofWork, principles and potential

co-funders.• Strategy, workplan and net-

works.• Genetic resources and benefit

sharing.• Taxonomic needs assessments:

what do we know?• African GTI projects—possible

topics and how to proceed.• Responsibilities of countries ea-

ger to participate in the GTI.

Several important decisions weremade during the workshop and thisled to the compilation of theKirstenbosch Declaration. The fol-lowing is an extract from this docu-ment:

The participants at the African Re-gional meeting held at Kirsten-


bosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town, South Africa, 27 February to 1 March 2001, (representing twenty-three African and nine other countries) recommend that

• The COP assures core funding exists for a GTI Programme Officer at the CBD Secretariat.• Parties designate GTI National Focal Points and participate in the development of regional networks

as rapidly as possible, in accordance with COP decision V/9.• Parties establish and strengthen national and regional centres of excellence in taxonomy as rapidly

as possible, in accordance with COP decision IV/1/D.• Parties support and expand the taxonomic needs assessment initiated as part of this workshop.• Parties support and expand current national and regional taxonomic capacity building initiatives.• Parties support existing African national and regional networks that promote the implementation of

the GTI, for example, SABONET, AETFAT, BOZONET, and WAFRINET, SAFRINET and EAFRINETof BioNET-INTERNATIONAL.

• Parties promote and support South-South and North-South partnerships where these contribute toGTI objectives for Africa.

• The CBD Secretariat disseminates GTI information in appropriate media and languages, bearing inmind that many countries lack adequate access to the World Wide Web.

• Parties and donors facilitate and provide funds for GTI activities, as acknowledged by COP decisionIV/1/D.

• The Executive Secretary of the CBD and the GEF together provide clear instructions on the relation-ship between GEF and GTI, including ways and means of simplifying the funding of GTI activities.

A final report summarising the discussions and decisions from the GTI Africa Regional workshop iscurrently being compiled and will be distributed to all interested parties.

—Gideon F. SmithOffice of the Research Director


Pretoria, 0001South Africa

—Ronell R. KlopperGTI Africa Regional Workshop Co-ordinator


Pretoria, 0001South Africa

“What is lacking and needed now is a concertedeffort, comparable to the Human Genome Project (HGP),to complete a global biodiversity survey—pole to pole,whales to bacteria, and in a reasonably short period oftime.”

(E.O. Wilson in Science 289, 29 September 2000)


D uring a recent visit toSABONET-Zambia (10–13 De-

cember 2000) SABONET repre-sentatives travelled to the head-quarters of the SADC Plant GeneticResource Centre (SPGRC) at theChalimbana Research Station, ap-proximately 25 km east of Lusaka.The SPGRC was set up to promoteand coordinate the regional net-work that manages plant geneticresources in the SADC region. The86 ha SPGRC complex houses Ad-ministrative and Financial Sections,a Technical Section, the Genebankfor long and short-term seed stor-age, and facilities for seed drying,packaging and handling. A her-barium is also planned. Land hasbeen set aside for regeneration andmultiplication of germplasm.

The SPGRC was established in1988, and a board consisting ofmembers from each participatingcountry governs it. The SPGRC isan autonomous regional organisa-tion under the aegis of the South-ern African Centre for Co-opera-tion in Agricultural Research andTraining (SACCAR), the SectorCoordinating Unit for AgriculturalResearch and Training in SADC. Asa SADC initiative, the SPGRCboard comprises members from thefollowing participating SADCcountries: Angola, Botswana,Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mo-zambique, Namibia, South Africa,Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia andZimbabwe.

The goal of the SPGRC is to pro-mote and coordinate a regional net-work of plant genetic resources. Inthe long run these activities willcontribute to raising the standardof living and welfare of people inthe SADC region. The activities ofthe network are the collection, con-servation, documentation, evalua-

tion and utilisation of regional plantgermplasm.

Technical Procedures

Representative seed samples ofpopulations of indigenous and in-troduced economically importantfood plant species are collectedthroughout the SADC region. Theseed is cleaned and any broken orforeign seeds are removed from thesample before the drying process.Samples are maintained as activecollections at National Plant Ge-netic Resource Centres, base collec-tions at the SPGRC and a safetybase collection outside the region.Collections are conserved by stor-ing the genebank samples at lowtemperatures of about -20oC. Dupli-cate samples are kept under perma-frost outside the region as a backupagainst unforeseen circumstances.Herbarium specimens are made ofthe parent material of the seed col-lection for future identification andcomparison of different genetic

lines, but more specifically for lo-cality and usage information. Fieldgenebanks are also established toconserve collections by plantingclones of economically importantfood crops in small plots.

In situ conservation promotesthe preservation of genetic re-sources of wild crops and wild rela-tives of successful domestic cropsthat are of importance in agricul-tural food production. This isachieved through improved man-agement of these resources in pro-tected areas and on farmers’ fields.On-farm conservation aims to con-tribute to plant genetic resourceconservation while improving thelivelihood of smallholder farmers.

Action Plan

Certain major functions have beenidentified within the SPGRC tomeet its objectives:• Hold, maintain and manage the

long-term Base Collection of theSADC Member States.

Plant GeneticResource Centre

Mr Brian Chirwa (SPGRC Senior Programmes Officer) in front of the SPGRCInstitutional Complex at Chalimbana Research Station, Zambia.(Photo: Stefan Siebert)


• Arrange and provide for the col-lection of germplasm to be safelyduplicated in a Safety-Base Col-lection.

• Develop, maintain and managethe regional central accessionand inventory databases for exsitu and in situ indigenous plantgenetic resources of the region.

• Coordinate the inventorying,collection, characterisation,evaluation, rejuvenation andmultiplication of indigenousplant genetic resources of theSADC countries.

• Coordinate the introduction,evaluation and documentation ofintroduced exotic plant geneticresource materials in the SADCcountries.

• Maintain and manage a mediumand long-term storage of exoticplant genetic resource materialsas deemed of common interest toSADC Member States.

• Keep records in a regional cen-tral database of introduced ex-otic material for SADC coun-tries.

• Issue catalogues of plant geneticresource material available at theSPGRC.

• Publish a SADC Plant GeneticResources Newsletter with par-ticular attention to the role ofplant genetic resource manage-ment in the solving of relevantproblems in plant breeding andin seed and crop production.

Outputs

The SPGRC aims to train a team ofhighly skilled regional specialists inplant genetic resource manage-ment, to develop national plant ge-

netic resource management pro-grammes, and to prevent loss ofplant genetic resources of the re-gion through collection and conser-vation efforts. The SPGRC has con-tributed significantly to capacitybuilding in plant genetic resourcesin the SADC region through long-term (MSc) and short hands-oncourses. This capacity will enableNational Plant Genetic ResourceCentres (NPGRCs) to multiply andregenerate the desired quantity ofseed for storage in genebanks anduse in the improvement of crops.Samples of these collections will beavailable for small plot multiplica-tion to record their agronomic andmorphological characters. Plants ineach plot are characterised and the

Mr Trevor Arnold (SABONET IT), Mr Mnyenyembe (SPGRC Senior ProgrammesOfficer), and Dr Patrick Phiri (University of Zambia) discuss the databasing ofresults obtained from the SPGRC’s field genebank at Chalimbana ResearchStation. (Photo: Stefan Siebert)

samples evaluated. All relevant in-formation is documented in theSPGRC Documentation and Infor-mation System (SDIS) that has beeninstalled at all NPGRCs to enhancethe use and exchange of informa-tion.

—Stefan Siebert

—Brian ChirwaSenior Programmes Officer:

Documentation & InformationSADC Plant Genetic Resource

CentreChalimbana Research Station

Private Bag CH6ZA-153 02 Lusaka, ZAMBIA

E-mail: [email protected] page: http://www.ngb.se


The Convention on BiologicalDiversity (CBD), which entered

into force on 29 December 1993, isan international treaty and an in-stitutional framework for the con-tinual development of legal, policyand scientific initiatives on biologi-cal diversity.

The scope is global and covers allthe components of biological diver-sity, from ecosystems and habitats,species and communities togenomes and genes. The Conven-tion deals with in situ and ex situconservation of biological diversity,sustainable use of biodiversity andbenefit sharing.

Up to December 2000, 179 govern-ments and the European Unionhave ratified the Convention. Tohelp these parties to fulfil their ob-ligations to conserve biodiversityand use components in a sustain-able way, the CBD sets out respon-sibilities for• Monitoring and identification of

biodiversity.• Environmental impact assess-

ments.• National strategies, plans or pro-

grammes to conserve and usethe components of biological di-versity.

• Integrating biodiversity policyinto relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral programmes and poli-cies.

The obligations introduced by theCBD, in terms of access and ben-efit sharing are the following:• States have sovereign rights

over biological resources andconsequent authority of nationalgovernments to determine ac-cess to genetic resources.

• Such access is subject to Parties’prior informed consent on mutu-ally agreed terms that promote fairand equitable sharing of benefits.

The CBD tries to strike a balancebetween the authority of the stateto regulate access to genetic re-sources on the one hand, and itsobligation to facilitate access togenetic resources for environmen-tally sound reasons and not to im-pose restrictions that run counterto the CBD, on the other.

Preserved Specimens

Genetic resources may be consid-ered to refer to any materials ofplant, animal, fungal, microbial orother origin containing functionalunits of heredity of actual or poten-tial value. This can be both livingand preserved materials such asherbarium specimens.

National legislation is free to deter-mine the precise scope of regulatedgenetic resources. However, her-barium specimens should be man-aged as genetic resources for thefollowing reasons:• Some access laws and draft laws

appear to cover preserved speci-mens such as herbarium speci-mens, for example, the AndeanPact and the Philippines Execu-tive Order.

• What constitutes a ‘functionalunit of heredity’ is a matter ofinterpretation and may changeas science and technologies de-velop.

• The CBD definition of geneticresources covers ‘potential’ aswell as ‘actual’ value. Many pre-served specimens do containfunctional units of heredity soaccess to genetic resources ap-plies.

• From a practical curatorial pointof view, it is likely to be simplerto transfer all preserved speci-mens in the same manner asother specimens.

Access to Genetic Resourcesand Benefit Sharing

Implications for Curators

Preserved plant specimens may beacquired from other institutions—receipt of specimens from ex situconditions (for example, from othercollections) does not involve accessto genetic resources. This reducesthe curatorial burden to get priorinformed consent from the countryof origin for each transaction, butassurance should be obtained fromthe provider that the material wasboth acquired and supplied legally.The terms of acquisition should alsobe clarified.

When plant material is collected forthe preparation of specimens foruse in herbaria, such collectedspecimens contain ‘functional unitsof heredity’ and therefore an in situcollection involves access to geneticresources.

Loan specimens are likely to be sentout under cover of documents con-taining terms and conditions thatrequire the recipient not to damageor destroy specimens, whereas giftsare mostly accompanied by a letter.When herbarium specimens aresent or received on loan or as gifts,a clause explicitly requiring the re-cipient not to commercialise thespecimens plus any other require-ments should be added to the rel-evant documentation.

Benefit Sharing

Laws and agreements in severalcountries mean that obligations toshare benefits often extend to de-rivatives of genetic resources—progeny or chemical extracts.

Article 8(j) encourages equitablesharing of benefits arising from theutilisation of knowledge, innova-tions, and practices of indigenousand local communities embodying


traditional lifestyles that are rel-evant to the conservation and sus-tainable use of biological diversity.The CBD seeks to encourage tradi-tional use of biodiversity and rec-ognises the value of knowledge and

information associated with geneticresources. However, if prior in-formed consent should be obtainedfrom indigenous and local commu-nities, landowners, and farmers,sharing benefits could be relevant

when collecting and publishingethnobotanical information thatdoes not involve access to actualgenetic material.

The following regions, states, andprovinces already regulate accessto genetic resources to ensure ben-efit sharing:• Andean Pact (Bolivia, Colombia,

Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela)• Australia (States of Western

Australia and Queensland)• Brazil (States of Acre and Ama-

pa)• Cameroon• Costa Rica• Republic of Korea• Malaysia (State of Sarawak)• Mexico• Philippines

Elements for mutually agreed termsfor effective participation and co-operation in scientific research anddevelopment and benefit sharingcould include the following:• Access to ex situ facilities of ge-

netic resources and databases.• Access to taxonomic, ecological,

horticultural and other informa-tion and data.

• Co-authorship of publications.• Collaboration in education and

training.• Collaboration in scientific re-

search and development pro-grammes.

• Fee per sample collected or oth-erwise acquired.

• Joint ownership of patents andother relevant forms of IPR.

• Joint ventures.• Licence fee in case of commer-

cialisation.• Participation in product develop-

ment.• Providing means for a fund at the

local, national, regional, or mul-tilateral level.

• Regular reporting on the state ofrelevant scientific research anddevelopment on genetic re-sources.

• Transfer of knowledge and tech-nology, in particular relating touse of genetic resources includ-ing biotechnology, or relevant toconservation and sustainable uti-lisation of biological diversity.

Summary of Provisions in the CBD

Genetic resources, local and indigenous communities, andbenefit-sharing

Art. 8 (j) Promote the wider application of the knowledge, innova-tions and practices of indigenous and local communitieswith their approval and involvement and encourage theequitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilisationof the knowledge, innovation.

Art. 15.1 Sovereign rights of States over their natural resources; theauthority of national governments to determine access togenetic resources.

Art. 15.2 Endeavour to create conditions to facilitate access togenetic resources for environmentally sound uses by otherContracting Parties and not to impose restrictions that runcounter to the objectives of the CBD.

Art. 15.3 Articles 15, 16 and 19 only apply to genetic resourcesacquired “in accordance with this Convention”, i.e. not tothose obtained prior to its entry into force or from non-parties.

Art. 15.4 Access, where granted, to be on mutually agreed terms andsubject to the provisions of Article 15.

Art. 15.5 Access to genetic resources to be subject to prior informedconsent of the Contracting Party providing such resources,unless otherwise determined by that Party.

Art. 15.6 Endeavour to develop and carry out scientific researchbased on genetic resources provided by other ContractingParties with the full participation of, and where possible in,such Contracting Parties.

Art. 15.7 Take legislative, administrative, or policy measures, asappropriate,...with the aim of sharing in a fair and equita-ble way the results of research and development and thebenefits arising from the commercial and other utilisationof genetic resources with the Contracting Party providingsuch resources. Such sharing to be upon mutually agreedterms.

Art. 16.3 Access to and transfer of technology using genetic re-sources to countries providing the genetic resources.

Art. 19.1 Effective participation by providers of genetic resources inbiotechnological research on the genetic resources theyprovide.

Art. 19.2 Priority access on a fair and equitable basis by countries(especially developing countries) providing genetic resourcesto the results and benefits arising from biotechnologiesbased on them. Such access to be on mutually agreedterms.


Working within the CBD

If collections are to be of value toscience and conservation, institu-tions must be able to maintain andimprove them. Institutions may findthemselves disadvantaged if theydo not implement access and ben-efit sharing.

Many institutions collect geneticresources worldwide and supplythem to research institutions, gov-ernment departments, and univer-sities, as well as seed, pharmaceu-tical, and biotechnology compa-nies, for the development of newmedicines, crops and other prod-ucts.

The CBD provides institutions withthe legal framework within whichthey can obtain, exchange, and sup-ply specimens; it also gives themthe opportunity to raise their pro-file and attract funding. A clear andtransparent policy can help institu-tions maintain their reputation.

Drawing up a Policy

Policies should honour the letterand spirit of the CBD, the Conven-tion on International Trade in En-dangered Species of Wild Flora andFauna (CITES), and laws relating toaccess and benefit sharing, includ-ing those relating to traditionalknowledge.

Prior informed consent needs to beobtained when genetic resourcesare acquired; a full explanation ofhow the genetic resources will beacquired and used should be pro-

vided. When genetic resources areacquired from in situ conditions,prior informed consent from thegovernment of the country of ori-gin and any other relevantstakeholders must be obtained andshould be in accordance to appli-cable law and best practice. How-ever, if genetic resources are ac-quired from ex situ collections, suchas botanic gardens or genebanks,prior informed consent should beobtained from the body governingthe ex situ collection and any addi-tional consents required by thatbody. Available documentation onacquired ex situ sources, such ascollections, commercial sources, orindividuals must be evaluated and,where necessary, appropriate stepsshould be taken to ensure that thegenetic resources were acquired inaccordance with applicable law andbest practice.

Genetic resources and their deriva-tives should be used and suppliedaccording to terms and conditionsthat are consistent with those un-der which they were acquired. Atransparent policy must be pre-pared on the commercialisation (in-cluding plant sales) of genetic re-sources and their derivatives ac-quired before or since the CBD en-tered into force.

Written agreements need to beused when genetic resources andderivatives are acquired and sup-plied. The terms and conditionsunder which the genetic resourcesmay be acquired, used, and sup-plied, and the resulting shared ben-efits should be stated clearly.

Benefits that arise from the use ofgenetic resources and their deriva-tives should be shared fairly andequitably with the country of ori-gin and other stakeholders. Thebenefits include non-monetary,and, in the case of commercialisa-tion, also monetary benefits. Ben-efits arising from the use of geneticresources acquired prior to the en-try into force of the CBD should beshared, as far as possible, in thesame manner as for those acquiredthereafter.

Curation of genetic resources is ofutmost importance. This enablesinstitutions to comply with the prin-ciples of a policy. All records andmechanisms used for the followingshould be maintained:• Terms and conditions under

which genetic resources are ac-quired.

• Use in the participating institu-tion and benefits arising fromthat use.

• Supply to third parties, includingthe terms and conditions of sup-ply.

Institutions must prepare, adoptand communicate an institutionalpolicy that sets out how they willimplement the above mentionedprinciples.

—Dr Maureen WolfsonDeputy Director: Research and

EducationNational Botanical Institute

Private Bag X101Pretoria 0001

SOUTH AFRICAE-mail: [email protected]


To build southern Africa’s botanical capacity, SABONET provides support to postgraduate students whoshow commitment to SABONET goals and objectives. Thirteen individuals hold SABONET scholarships for

the 2001 academic year.

SABONET StudentsIndividuals who hold SABONET scholarships for 2001

Ms Georgina Neto Angola M.Sc. Lisbon, Portugal

Mr Mbaki Muzila Botswana B.Sc. Hons. University of the Free State

Ms Bokang Theko Lesotho B.Sc. Hons. University of the Free State

Ms Lerato Kose Lesotho M.Sc. University of Stellenbosch

Ms Elizabeth Mwafongo Malawi M.Sc. University of Cape Town

Mr Mphamba Kumwenda Malawi B.Sc. Hons. University of Stellenbosch

Mr Dickson Kamundi Malawi B.Sc. Hons. University of the Witwatersrand

Ms Esmerialda Claassen Namibia B.Tech. (Part-time) Cape Town Technikon

Ms Patricia Craven Namibia M.Sc. (Part-time) University of Stellenbosch

Mr Solomon Nkoana South Africa M.Sc. University of Pretoria

Ms Angela Gono Zambia B.Sc. Hons. University of the Witwatersrand

Mr Kunda Changwe Zambia M.Sc. University of the Witwatersrand

Mr Phelex Manyanga Zimbabwe M.Sc. University of Cape Town

SABONET’s Students

The 27th Annual Conference of the South AfricanAssociation of Botanists was held at the Rand

Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, in January 2001.We publish the abstracts of the keynote address andpresentations by SABONET-affiliated researchershere.

Plenary Speaker

At the SAAB conference we were fortunate enoughto be addressed by one of the world leaders inethnobotany and phytochemistry, Prof. Dr ErmiasDagne from Ethiopia. Not only was his presentationinspiring to young African botanists, it also empha-sized Africa’s rich botanical treasures.

Prof. Dr Dagne is an organic chemist by training. Hismain research is in the area of natural products chem-istry, in particular the isolation and characterisationof bioactive compounds. He is also interested in

SAAB Conference Abstractschemotaxonomy—this approach has proved fruitful inthe study of the chemistry and taxonomy of Aloe andrelated genera.

In the course of his research work, he has taken part inseveral plant collection expeditions and has depositednumerous plant voucher specimens at national her-baria. He grows several hundred species of plants inan arboretum developed at the Faculty of Science. Hehas also established a medicinal plant garden, whereover 100 indigenous aromatic and medicinal plant spe-cies are grown.

Prof. Dr Dagne heads an active research group com-prising several research associates, MSc, and PhD stu-dents. He has published over 75 scientific papers inpeer-reviewed journals. He has participated in manyprestigious local and international conferences, and hasdelivered several plenary lectures.


Ethnobotany and Phytochemistry of Some UniquePlants of EthiopiaErmias DagneDepartment of Chemistry, Addis Ababa University, PO Box 30270, Addis

Ababa, Ethiopia, [email protected]

Our research group has for several years been engaged inthe study of the chemistry and biology of higher plantsand fungi of Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s diverse topographyprovides habitats for approximately 7 000 higher plantspecies with a rich endemic flora possessing diversetherapeutic and other uses. Medicinal plants are readilyavailable at local markets, where they are customarily soldside by side with spices and other food items. At the top ofthe list of unique plants of Ethiopia one finds the leaves ofthe stimulant khat Catha edulis (Celastraceae), berries ofthe molluscicide endod Phytolacca dodecandra(Phytolaccaceae), flowers of the anthelmintic kosso Hageniaabyssinica (Rosaceae), stem bark of the anti-tumour bissanaCroton macrostachys (Euphorbiaceae), roots of theanalgesic dingetegna Taverniera abyssinica (Leguminosae),rhizomes of the fumigant kebericho Echinops kebericho(Compositae), aerial parts of the cough medicine tossignThymus schimperi (Labiatae), leaves of the anti-dysentericattuch Verbena officinalis (Verbenaceae), the seeds of thestaple food teff Eragrostis teff, the rhizomes of thefermented food kocho Ensete ventricosum, and the leavesof the beverage additive gesho Rhamnus prinoides. Oneshould also add to this list other widely known plants andplant products that originate from Ethiopia such as coffeeCoffea arabica, frankincense Boswellia sp., and myrrhCommiphora myrrha.

Documenting Diversity: Computerisation at NatalHerbariumNontuthuko Ntuli*1 & Nikaya Govender**1

* SABONET Data Entry Clerk, South Africa

** SABONET Research Officer, South Africa1National Botanical Institute, Natal Herbarium, PO Box 52099, Berea

Road, 4007, South Africa

Natal Herbarium is a regional herbarium focusing onKwaZulu-Natal and the eastern region of southern Africa,including Mozambique, Swaziland, Malawi, and Zambia.This region has extreme vegetation types, ranging fromcoastal to alpine vegetation. In addition, many species areendemic to the region. The duo W.T. Gerrard (?–ca 1866)and M.J. Mcken (1823–72) started collecting in KwaZulu-Natal areas in the 1860s. Their specimens represent thebeginnings of the Natal Herbarium. The herbariumspecimens at Natal Herbarium are being computerized toensure that the herbarium’s rich botanical knowledge isnot lost. Computerisation started in the early 1990s whenA field guide to wild flowers of KwaZulu-Natal and theeastern region by Elsa Pooley was being compiled. Thisproject was initially funded by the Natal Flora PublicationsTrust. Subsequently, Natal Herbarium was used as a guineapig for the SABONET-sponsored computerisation ofherbaria within southern Africa. The first SABONET officerwas appointed at Natal Herbarium in 1998 and the secondin 1999. A large part of their time is spent computerisingherbarium collections. Computerisation of specimensalready in the herbarium (existing specimens) and those

that are continuously being collected (new specimens) willenable easy access of this knowledge especially toresearchers and conservationists.

Systematics of Merxmuellera: the Key to Resolvingthe Relationships of the Danthonieae (Poaceae)Paseka Mafa*1, H.P. Linder1 & N.P. Barker2

* Former SABONET Research Officer, Lesotho, studied with a SABONET

Fellowship in 20001Department of Botany, University of Cape Town, Private Bag,

Rondebosch, 7700, South Africa2Department of Botany, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South

Africa

The tribe Danthonieae, soon to become a formal subfamily,has been the subject of many investigations at both themolecular and morphological level. DNA sequence datasets have contributed towards our understanding of boththe generic compositions of the tribe, and relationshipswithin and between the tribe and other grasses. Allmolecular studies have indicated that the African genusMerxmuellera is highly polyphyletic, and that this genusneeds urgent taxonomic attention. Morphological and leafanatomical data also corroborate these molecular results.Merxmuellera comprises 17 African and two Madagascanspecies. This study expands on existing molecular (rbcL,rpoC2 and ITS) and morphological data sets and attemptsto resolve the relationships of the African species of thegenus. Results of analyses of the data sets, both separatelyand in combination, indicate that M. papposa and M. rangeiare more closely related to Centropodia and the subfamilyChloridoideae than to the Danthonieae. The remainingspecies of the genus are either part of a paraphyletic gradeat the base of the Danthonieae, or included in a cladepreviously termed the “Rytidosperma clade”, whichincludes Australasian genera such as Rytidosperma,Austrodanthonia, Thonandia and Joycea, as well as theAfrican Karroochloa, Schismus, and Tribolium.

Floristics of the Dunbar Serpentine Site andPhytogeographic Affinities of Serpentine EndemicsKunda Changwe*1 & K. Balkwill1

*Former SABONET Research Officer, Zambia, studied with a SABONET

Fellowship in 20001C.E. Moss Herbarium, Botany Department, University of the

Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050, South Africa

The Dunbar serpentine outcrop has a flora comprising 254taxa (species and below) in 172 genera and 63 families.Dunbar has more species than other studied serpentinesites in the Barberton Greenstone Belt (BGB). The genusSenecio is the most speciose genus in the BGB. The levelof species endemism at Dunbar is 2.0%. Most of theserpentine endemics in the BGB show phytogeographicaffinities with the Sudano-Zambezian Region. Six modified-Whittaker plots, three on serpentine and three on non-serpentine soils, were sampled. Sorenson’s index was 0.312,indicating low similarity in species between serpentine andnon-serpentine sites (beta diversity) at Dunbar, as at othersites in the BGB. Alpha diversity (using the Shannon-Wiener index) for the serpentine was 2.631 ± 0.130 and forthe non-serpentine was 2.886 ± 0.130. However, Student’st-test showed no significant difference in alpha diversity


between the two habitats. There was also no significantdifference in species richness between serpentine and non-serpent ine s i tes . Total species showed negativecorrelations with total nickel, altitude and serpentineoutcrop size (area) for six sites in the BGB. Endemic taxashowed no correlation with environmental variables.

Developing a Greater Understanding of the Flora ofthe Nyika Plateau, Malawi/ZambiaChristopher Willis*1, J.E. Burrows2, P.J.D. Winter3, M.Koekemoer1 & S.D. Johnson4

*Former SABONET Regional Coordinator1National Botanical Institute, Private Bag X101, Pretoria, 0001, South

Africa2Buffelskloof Herbarium, Buffelskloof Private Nature Reserve, P.O. Box

710, Lydenburg, 1120, South Africa3University of the North Herbarium (UNIN), Department of Botany,

University of the North, Private Bag X1106, Sovenga, 0727, South Africa4School of Zoology and Botany, University of Natal (Pietermaritzburg),

Private Bag X01, Scotsville, South Africa

Collaborative plant collecting expeditions under-collectedareas of southern Africa are one of SABONET’s projectactivities. The first such regional collaborative expeditionwas to the Nyika Plateau (Malawi/Zambia)—the largestmontane complex in south-central Africa—in March–April2000. This paper presents a brief history of botanicalexploration of the Nyika, and discusses the progress thathas been made through the SABONET Project towardsdeveloping an inventory of the Nyika flora, as well ashighlighting aspects relating to the plant diversity,

endemism and phytogeography of the area. Assessmentsmade of the endemic and near-endemic plants using thenew IUCN Red Data Categories (1994) are also presented.Opportunities for further collaborative research on theNyika are proposed.

Threatened Plant Realities in the Southern AfricanRegion: Some New Preliminary FindingsJanice GoldingRed Data List Regional Coordinator

SABONET, c/o National Botanical Institute, Private Bag X101, Pretoria,

0001, South Africa

National plant Red Data Lists are nearing completion forten southern African countries under the auspices ofSABONET. The countries are Angola, Botswana, Lesotho,Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland,Zambia and Zimbabwe. Red List species numbers in SouthAfrica remain the highest recorded for the region. However,figures have substantially increased more than three-foldin Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, bringingthe proportion of each country’s threatened flora to similarlevels as those of South Africa, namely ca 10.5%. This ispartially a result of modified Red List methodologies andthe impacts of human-induced threatening processesdriving species losses. Revised comparative statistics arepresented, as well as new, tentative data of endemic speciesfor the countries north of the Kunene, Okavango andLimpopo river systems. Top-priority supra-specific taxa thatrequire urgent conservation efforts are identified, and thescope to secure their protection is discussed.

Edwin Kathumba, NHBG, Malawi


Where Have All

Chikanda, the tubers of terres-trial orchids, are a traditional

food of the Bemba and relatedtribes of northeastern Zambia,northern Malawi, and KatangaProvince of the DRC. The poundedtubers are mixed with poundedgroundnuts and cooked to make acake, known as “African polony”.With the decline of the economiesof Zambia and neighbouring coun-tries, people can no longer affordto buy chicken or eggs, and haveincreasingly turned to cheaperfoods. The impoverished rural com-munities have responded by sup-plying the ever growing urban de-mand for traditional foods andmedicines. The demand forchikanda has now expanded to in-clude Zambia’s Southern Provinceand towns such as Livingstone,where previously it was not used.Moreover, the urban Zambian mid-dle class has developed a taste forAfrican polony.

Recently we toured the source ar-eas of chikanda in northeasternZambia. We also questioned thetraders at Lusaka’s Soweto Marketabout the various types of chikandatubers and their source areas. Wefound, to our surprise, that muchof the chikanda is now coming fromthe southern highlands of Tanzania,since the preferred species are nowscarce in the traditional source ar-eas.

One of us (GMK) obtained a grantfrom SARIPS (Southern AfricanInstitute for Policy Studies, basedin Harare) to carry out the prelimi-nary survey. A network of collabo-rators has been established to col-

lect information from local sources,and during 2001 we hope to expandthe work of surveying the harvest-ing and trade of chikanda. Linkshave also been established withcounterparts working on the prob-lem in Tanzania and Malawi.

Identifying the chikanda species isfraught with problems. The taxo-nomic identification of orchids isbased on the flowers, and little at-tention has been given to the tubersand other vegetative parts. The har-vesters, on the other hand, identifythe plants by the dried above-ground material that remains at theend of the growing season beforethe fires sweep through the dambosor, in a few species, by the newsprouts at the start of the growingseason. Thus, showing photo-graphs of the flowers to the har-vesters mostly drew blanks, and werealised that we would need toknow much more about the biologyand morphology of the plants if wewere going to succeed in identify-ing the tubers.

What we found during our surveywas that while species formerlyharvested are now depleted, otherspecies are increasing used, and wesuspect that about 30 species arenow being harvested. For these wehave about 80 vernacular names inseveral languages.

The most important habitats ofchikanda are the seeps of the higheraltitudes, and the areas of annualrainfall in excess of 1 200mm.Within the dambo grasslands theyare mostly found in peat bogs,which are permanently wet, but

never subjected to more than su-perficial flooding. In such areas adozen or more species of orchidsmay be flowering simultaneously.Yet the harvesters can recognisethe chikanda species. Tubers of in-ferior quality, known as mbwelengeto the traders and marketeers, aredifficult to distinguish from the bet-ter quality, and inexperienced trad-ers may be tricked into buying theinferior tubers at a price which theycannot recover.

The best quality chikanda undoubt-edly belongs to the genera Disa andSatyrium, but we know that speciesof Brachycorythis and Habenariaare also used. Originally harvestingwas confined to the wetlands, butincreasingly people are using theupland species as well, althoughthese are never as abundant andmore difficult to find.

By the end of 2001 we hope to beable to list the chikanda species withreasonable certainty, and to put for-ward plans for their conservationand possible domestication.

—Mike BinghamPrivate Bag 31

Woodlands, LusakaZAMBIA


—Gun Mickels KokweIUCN-ROSAPO Box 745

HarareZIMBABWE

E-mail:[email protected]

the Flowers Gone?


The Fynbos Forum will be holding its annual conference atCalitzdorp Spa, Calitzdorp, Southern Cape from 1–3 August 2001.The theme of the conference will be “Celebrating our Successes”.

Two field trips are planned:

• Animal management in dry fynbos: Gamkaberg Nature Reserve

• Gouritz Megareserve: “Flora and cooperativeconservation”

For further information, please contact

Wendy PaisleyCape Conservation UnitBotanical SocietyTel.: (27) 21 797-2284Fax: (27) 21 761-5983E-mail: [email protected]

Edwin Kathumba, NHBG, Malawi


Distribution map showing thenumber of computerised specimensin WIND. Grey cells represent gridsquares with 1–24 computerisedspecimens; black cells represent gridsquares with 25+ computerisedspecimens. WIND staff members havealready computerised more than 88%of their collection: 65 017 specimensout of total holdings of 73 278specimens.

History

Tuesday 28 April 1953 was theday that saw Namibia move

from botanical outer darkness tothe enlightenment that (as we allknow) only a National Herbariumcan bring. It was on that red-letterday that discussions between Prof.Dr H. Walter of the HohenheimUniversity, Germany, and Dr J.S.Watt, director of Agriculture ofSouth West Africa, resulted in theestablishment of what was to be-come WIND, the National Her-barium of Namibia.

A donation of over 1 000 sheetsfrom Prof. Dr Walter provided anembryonic collection, which thelate Willi Giess worked on once aweek, travelling to Windhoek fromhis farm 50 km away. His pioneer-ing work made an enormous con-

tribution to Namibian botany; hisbenevolent spirit still pervadesWIND as we work with his im-maculate specimens, labels andnotes.

In 1957 Giess was permanentlyemployed as the curator of the her-barium, until he retired in 1975 andMike Müller became the new cura-tor. At this time WIND occupied themeanest of its many past premises:the “camel stables”—a lowly local-ity close to where our new build-ing now stands. It was during thistime that Prodromus einer Floravon Südwestafrika, our bible andshelter in the taxonomic storm, waspublished.

The period from 1985 to 1987 wereunsettled ones for WIND. MikeMüller spent 1985 and 1986 atStellenbosch University, working

on his Ph.D. In addition tobringing back his doctorate toWIND, he also brought GillianMaggs, who succeeded him ascurator. WIND was closedfrom 1986 to 1988 and the staffwas spread far and wide intemporary premises inWindhoek. The entire collec-tion was packed up and sent tothe hell of the old State Hospi-tal cellars, where over-zealouswatering of the nearby ever-to-be-cursed lawns caused seep-

age through the walls, damagingpart of the collection, including al-most all the Zygophyllaceae.

1989 saw the staff and the collec-tion settled into somewhat rough-and-ready prefab buildings sitedwhere the National Botanical Re-search Institute (NBRI) is now. Thiswas a vast improvement, but it didnot last long. In 1993 the staff wasscattered again and the collection

The National Herbarium of Namibia (WIND)

Hard at work identifying specimens atWIND. From left to right: Sonja Loots,Sabine Austaller, and Esmerialda Klaassen.


packed up once more, this time tomake way for the construction ac-tivities that gave us the NBRI as itis today. For those of us who haveonly worked in the wonderful newbuilding, the whole history of theherbarium seems like one’s worstnightmares come true. The fact thatmost of the collection survived is atribute to the dedication and per-sistence of both the professionaland the technical staff involved.

WIND Today

Today WIND houses over 73 000sheets. The present collection con-sists largely of Namibian material.Space constraints and the fact thatlarge tracts of Namibia are veryundercollected restrict us to theflora of Namibia and just beyondour borders. Collectors such asGiess, Volk, Bleissner, De Winterand Müller are all well represented.What we perhaps lack is a greaterrepresentation of the older historicNamibian material collected by thelikes of Dinter, Range, Story, Fleck,Rautanen and Schinz. Any dona-tions/exchanges would be grate-fully received.

At present the WIND staff con-sists of three researchers, two tech-nicians, and two technical assist-ants. As WIND is the only func-tional herbarium in the country,fieldwork and the demand for plant

The National Botanical Research Institute building in Windhoek (right). WINDis one of four sections at the NBRI—the others are the National Plant GeneticResources Centre, the Ecology section and the National Botanic Garden. TheNBRI falls under the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development.(Photo: C.K. Willis)

identifications keeps us pretty busy,with precious little time left for re-search. Curation of the collectiontakes up a large proportion of stafftime as well. Nevertheless we feelthat we have made excellentprogress since we moved into thenew building in May 1996.SABONET has played an importantrole, assisting us with training andequipment, and we would certainlynot be where we are today withoutthe help of this programme.

Staff Members

Patricia Craven, Senior Researcher- Plant inventory of Namibia- Namibian phytogeography- Petalidium

The section of the NBRI building that houses the National Herbarium.(Photo: C.K. Willis)

Coleen Mannheimer, Curator- MesembryanthemaceaeSilke Bartsch, Researcher- Crassulaceae- MalvaceaeEsmerialda Klaassen, Senior Tech-

nician- Database Manager- Asteraceae- Aquatic plantsMarianne Uiras, Technician- FabaceaeBelinda Polster, Senior Technical

AssistantHelvi Haufiku, Technical Assistant

—Coleen MannheimerWIND, Namibia


See also the obituary of Willi Giess on page44 of this issue.

A close-up of the National Herbariumsection. (Photo: C.K. Willis)


Willi Giess with the third edition ofhis Preliminary Vegetation Map ofNamibia, 19 March 2000.(Photo: Namibia Scientific Society)

Heinrich Johann Wilhelm (or as he was known to most, Willi)

Giess was born on 21 Febru-ary 1910 in Frankfurt-am-Main,Germany, the elder of two broth-ers. His parents were Wilhelm andLilly Giess; his father was a bankerin Frankfurt.

When he was six years old, Willistarted his ten years of schoolingat the Adlerflucht Realschule. Ayear after completing school, thefamily immigrated to South WestAfrica (present Namibia), where the16-year-old Willi started doing vol-unteer work on farms. He laterstudied at the Agricultural Collegeof Neudamm from 1928 to 1929.

In 1931, Willi Giess fell ill with MaltaFever and was sent to Germany torecuperate; he stayed until 1933.During this time, he studied at theKarakul sheep breeding division ofthe Animal Breeding Institute of theUniversity of Halle under Prof. DrR. Fröhlich. He completed his train-ing as Technical Advisor for

Karakul Breeding and was able toapply this new skill as manager ona local karakul farm upon his returnto South West Africa.

After four successful years, he wasable to purchase his own farm,Dornfontein Süd. This developmentwork was interrupted when he wasinterned for six years during WorldWar II. He used the time to studybotany, a long-time interest, at the“Andalusia Camp University” un-der Prof. Otto Volk, who was alsoat the camp. After his release, hestarted working at the University ofStellenbosch, collecting plant speci-mens within the Cape Floristic Re-gion, until he was allowed to returnto his own farm in December 1946.

Encouraged by Prof. Dr HeinrichWalter of the Hohenheim Techni-cal University, Giess started theState Herbarium on a part-timebasis in 1953, parallel to his farm-ing activities. After four years, theherbarium was taken over by theDivision of Agriculture of the SouthWest African Administration, andWilli Giess was employed as full-time curator. In this capacity, hetaught plant sciences at NeudammAgricultural College, including thepresentation of practicals. He heldthe post of curator until his retire-ment in 1975, but continued to workat the herbarium until February1980. He again assisted withcuration from April 1985 to Janu-ary 1986, in order to give his suc-cessor, Dr M.A.N. Müller, the op-portunity to complete his Ph.D. de-gree.

Willi Giess made an enormous con-tribution to the collection of her-barium material in the S.W.A. Her-barium (now the National Her-barium of Namibia). Of the approxi-mately 73 000 specimens in the

present-day collection, 18 570specimens were collected by himpersonally, often with other scien-tists like Volk, Van Vuuren, De Win-ter, and in collaboration withMerxmüller. These specimens wereall collected in triplicate, often evenin quadruplicate. Anybody who hasever collected seriously for a her-barium will appreciate the amountof work involved in such a collec-tion. Even today, the Giess speci-mens, with their carefully typed orhand-written data labels, are oftenthe best and neatest to be found inthe collection of the National Her-barium of Namibia.

In honour of Prof. Dr Kurt Dinter,Willi Giess published the first issueof the journal Dinteria on the 100thanniversary of Dinter’s birthday inNovember 1968 under the auspicesof the South West Africa ScientificSociety. This journal was under hiseditorship until 1991 (Number 21);after retiring, he continued to give

Heinrich Johann Wilhelm Giess(1910–2000)

Obituary

Willi Giess at work in the SWAHerbarium. (Photo: SA Panorama,September 1969)


support in an advisory capacity.One edition of Dinteria achieved therather unusual feat of being re-printed three times: because of thegreat public demand for Dinteria 4,featuring the Preliminary Vegeta-tion Map of South West Africa (alsocompiled by Willi Giess), this vol-ume was reprinted in 1978 and1998.

Forty-five publications originatedfrom his pen. He also contributedto numerous other publications.The crowning glory of his work wasthe publication of the Bibliographyof South West African Botany in1989. Amongst his publications areseveral new taxon descriptions:- Zygophyllum schreiberianum

Merxm. & Giess- Sphaeranthus wattii Giess ex

Merxm.- Aloe argenticauda Merxm. &

Giess- Aloe dewinteri Giess- Aloe namibensis Giess- Aristida dewinteri Giess- Tridentea marientalensis (Nel)

L.C. Leach subsp. albipilosa(Giess) L.C. Leach

He became well known across theborders of the country for his

wealth of knowledge. He receivedthe following acknowledgementsand honours:• On 1 July 1964 he became Cor-

respondent of the Natur-historisches Museum of Vienna.

• In 1968 the Royal Academy ofSciences in Stockholm honouredhim with the great Lineé Medalin silver.

• During the 200th anniversaryyear of the birth of Alexandervon Humboldt, he was given acommemorative volume on thelife of Humboldt by the consul ofthe Federal Republic of Germanyin honour of his achievements inthe field of botany.

• During the stay of Prof. DrMerxmüller, Director of the In-stitute for Systematic Botany andthe Botanic Garden of Munich,to collect material for his Prodro-mus einer Flora von Südwest-afrika, Giess assisted him to suchan extent, that the BavarianAcademy of Science honouredhim with the Bene MerentiMedal.

• In 1980 he received the AcademyMedal in gold from the SouthAfrican Academy of Sciencesand Arts for his extraordinaryachievements, and he was made

A sketch by Willi Giess of Harpagophytum procumbens, drawn duringinternship in Andalusia in 1942.

a corresponding member of theAcademy.

• In 1998 the Windhoek Munici-pality honoured Willi Giess bynaming a street in KleinWindhoek after him.

Various scientists also honouredhim by naming plants after him:- Isoetes giessii Launert- Aizoon giessii Friedrich- Salsola giessii Botsch.- Crassula ausensis Hutchinson

subsp. giessii (Friedrich) Toelken- Indigofera giessii A. Schreib.- Zygophyllum giessii (Merxm.) A.

Schreib.- Euphorbia giessii L.C. Leach- Commiphora giessii J.J.A. van

der Walt- Heliotropium giessii FrieDr-

Holzh.- Jamesbrittenia giessii Hilliard- Petalidium giessii P.G. Mey.- Eriocephalus giessii M.A.N.

Müller (ined.)- Senecio giessii Merxm.- Lachenalia giessii W.F. Barker- Stipagrostis giessii Kers

As a farmer in Andalusia, he learntthat knowledge of grasses andherbs enables one to evaluate thecondition of pastures and in thisway maintain and improve them.

Through his work at the StateHerbarium, he opened the wayfor many farmers to get toknow and evaluate their owngrazing. What a service he pro-vided to the country and itspeople!

Willi Giess died on 28 Sep-tember 2000 in Swakopmund.It is with sadness that we haveto say farewell to our friend,colleague and mentor.

—Herta Kolberg& Ben Strohbach

National Botanical ResearchInstitute

Private Bag 13184Windhoek

This obituary was reprinted with permis-sion from the authors. It was first pub-lished in Dinteria No. 26:147–150, No-vember 2000.


The object of this column is to keep an eye open for literature which SABONET users may find useful. Thiswill mostly be new publications, but may well include older information in answer to questions such as

“what’s the best key to …”. It is neither possible nor desirable that the flow of such information should be one-way, from Pretoria outwards, so would readers please feel free to submit notes and useful information to theaddress at the end of this column.

The citation of an item here does not imply any guarantee of its contents or even its existence; very often thecompiler has not seen the documents referred to.

❚ Pharmacognosy: phytochemistry: medicinal plants. J.Bruneton. Intercept, Hampshire, 1999.

❚ The new Oxford book of food plants. J.C. Vaughan.Oxford University Press, Oxford. 1997.

❚ The world of Haworthias. Volume 2. Breuer, I. 2000.Breuer, Niederzier.

❚ Toxic plants: dangerous to humans and animals. J.Bruneton. Intercept, Hampshire, 1999.

❚ Transkei forest survey. K.H. Cooper. Wildlife Society ofsouthern Africa, Durban, 1992.

❚ Wetland plants of Oregon and Washington. Guard, B.J.1995. Lone Pine Publishing, Canada.

❚ Wildflowers of Saudi Arabia. Collenette, S. 1999. NationalCommission for Wildlife Conservation and Development,Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

❚ Wildflowers of southern Western Australia. M.G. Corrick& B.A. Fuhrer. The Five Mile Press, Australia, 1996.

Recently Published Papers

Aloe 37(2&3) (2000)

❚ Rare succulents of the Western and Eastern CapeProvinces of South Africa. G. Marx. Pages 24-25.

❚ The succulent flora of pebble fields, with emphasis on theLittle Karoo and the Knersvlakte. R. Frandsen. Pages 26-27.

❚ A unique desert garden in the winter rainfall area ofSouth Africa. I. Oliver. Pages 28-30.

❚ Exploring Africa for succulent plants. L.E. Newton. Page31.

❚ The succulents of Northern Bushmanland: theirdistribution and implications for conservation. P. Desmet.Pages 32-35.

ThePaper Chase

New Books Received in the Mary GunnLibrary

❚ A checklist of the algal flora of the east African GreatLakes. C. Cocquyt. National Botanic Garden of Belgium,Meise, 1993.

❚ A taxonomic revision of Lachnaea L. (Thymelaeacea).J.B.P. Beyers. Ph.D. thesis, University of Pretoria, 2000.

❚ African Plants: biodiversity, taxonomy and uses:proceedings of the 1997 AETFAT Congress, Harare,Zimbabwe. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 1999.

❚ America’s vanishing flora. M. Yurlina (ed). Center forPlant Conservation, St. Louis, 2000.

❚ Biogeography: an ecological and evolutionary approach.6th edition. C.B. Cox. Blackwell Science, London, 1998.

❚ Describing species: practical taxonomic procedure forbiologists. J.E. Winston. Columbia University Press, NewYork, 1999.

❚ Field guide to the Proteas of the West Coast. T. Rebelo.National Botanical Institute, Cape Town, 1999.

❚ Flora Neotropica Monograph 79. Bactris (Palmae). A.Henderson. New York Botanical Garden, New York, 2000.

❚ Flora Neotropica Monograph 81. Buddlejaceae. E.Norman. New York Botanical Garden, New York, 2000.

❚ Flora Neotropica Monograph 82. Opiliaceae. P. Hiepko.New York Botanical Garden, New York, 2000.

❚ Guidelines for management of orthodox seeds. G.D.Wieland. Center for Plant Conservation, St. Louis, 1995.

❚ Invasive species in the Pacific: A technical review anddraft regional strategy. G. Sherley (ed). South PacificRegional Environment Program, Samoa, 2000.


❚ The aloes of Malawi. S. Lane.Pages 36-37.

❚ Frithia - up close and personal.P.M. Burgoyne, S. Krynauw &G.F. Smith. Pages 38-42.

❚ Time to take stock. D. Court.Pages 43-45.

❚ Systematic and evolutionarysignificance of morphology inthe Mesembryanthemaceae:interactive database and

illustrated atlas for identification. P. Chesselet, G.F. Smith &A.E. Van Wyk. Pages 46-51.

❚ Very ‘vary-ability’ in Haworthia. M.B. Bayer. Pages 52-53.

❚ Zambian Euphorbias. G. Williamson. Pages 54-55.

❚ Crassula perfoliata and its garden hybrids. G.D. Rowley.Pages 56-57.

❚ The Agavaceae. B. Kemble. Pages 58-59.

Aloe 37(4) (2000)

❚ New combinations in the genus Orbea. P.V. Bruyns. Pages72-76.

❚ South African and Namibian succulents on the edge: thecliff face home. E. van Jaarsveld & A.E. van Wyk. Pages 77-79.

❚ Notes on important plant localities in the RichtersveldNational Park. G. Williamson. Pages 80-82.

❚ Notes on the vegetation and climate of the RichtersveldNational Park. G. Williamson. Pages 83-87.

❚ The habit and peculiar inflorescence of Ottosonderiamonticola (Sond.) L.Bolus, Mesembryanthemaceae. P.Chesselet, G.F. Smith & A.E. Van Wyk. Pages 88-90.

❚ Aloe chabaudii var. mlanjeana. S. Lane. Page 91.

Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 87(4)(2000)

❚ A phylogenetic analysis of Dicoma Cass. and relatedgenera (Asteraceae: Cichorioideae: Mustisieae) based onmorphological and anatomic characters. S. Ortiz. Pages 459-481.

❚ Adaptive radiation of pollination mechanisms in Ixia(Iridaceae: Crocoideae). P. Goldblatt, P. Bernhardt and J.C.Manning. Pages 564-577.

Austral Ecology 25 (2000)

❚ Conservation biology of the succulent shrub, Euphorbiabarnardii, a serpentine endemic of the Northern Province,South Africa. L. Knowles & E.T.F. Witkowski. Pages 241–252.

❚ Climbing asparagus, Asparagus scandens Thunb.: a SouthAfrican in your forest patch. S.M. Timmins & V. Reid. Pages533-538.Climbing asparagus, endemic to the Western Cape ofSouth Africa, is invading the understorey of lowlandbroad-leaved and secondary forest remnants in thenorthern half of New Zealand and in the last decade hasbeen recognised as a weed of conservation concern.

BioScience 50(7) (2000)

❚ Conserving wildlife in Africa: integrated conservationand development projects and beyond. W.D. Newmark &J.L. Hough. Pages 585–592.

BioScience 50(10) (2000)

❚ Quantifying Biodiversity: Experience withparataxonomists and digital photography in Papua NewGuinea and Guyana. Y. Basset, V. Novotny, S.E. Miller & R.Pyle. Pages 899–908.

Biodiversity andConservation 9 (2000)

❚ Postmodernism andAfrican conservationscience. C.A.M. Attwell &F.P.D. Cotterill. Pages 559–577.

❚ The use of specimen-labeldatabases for conservationpurposes. J.M. Soberon,J.B. Llorente & L. Onate.Pages 1441–1466.

❚ A simple system formonitoring biodiversity in protected areas of a developingcountry. F. Danielsen, D.S. Balete, M.K. Poulsen, M.Enghoff, C.M. Nozawa & A.E. Jensen. Pages 1671–1705.

Biological Conservation 96 (2000)

❚ A simple population viability analysis of the CriticallyEndangered Euphorbia clivicola R.A. Dyer under fourmanagement scenarios. M.F. Pfab & E.T.F. Witkowski.Pages 263-270.

❚ Effectiveness of using vascular plants to select reservesfor bryophytes and lichens. E.J. Pharo, A.J. Beattie, R.L.Pressey. Pages 371-378.


Bulletin of the NaturalHistory Museum ofLondon (Botany) 30(2)(November 2000)

❚ The genus Polystichum(Dryopteridaceae) in Africa.J.P. Roux. Pages 33-79.

Cimbebasia 9 (2000)

❚ The flora of the Brandberg,Namibia. P. Craven & D.Craven. Pages 49-67.

Conservation Biology 14(3) (August 2000)

❚ Creating academically and practically trained graduatestudents. D.W. Inouye & J.M. Dietz. Pages 858–875.

ConservationBiology 14(5)(October 2000)

❚ Should we usepesticides to conserverare plants? P. Lesica &H.E. Atthowe. Pages1549-1550.

❚ Exclusion of naturalenemies as a tool inmanaging rare plantspecies. S.M. Louda &R.L. Bevill. Pages 1551-1552.

Conservation Biology 14(6) (December 2000)

❚ Roads, development and conservation in the CongoBasin. D. Wilkie, E. Shaw, F. Rotberg, G. Morelli & P. Auzel.Pages 1614-1622.

❚ Conservation in a region of political instability: BwindiImpenetrable Forest, Uganda. A. Hamilton, A.Cunningham, D. Byarugaba & F. Kayanja. Pages 1722-1725.

❚ Indicator taxa, rapid biodiversity assessment, andnestedness in an endangered ecosystem. J.T. Kerr, A. Sugar& L. Packer. Pages 1726-1734.

❚ Application of conservation biology research tomanagement. D.J. Flaspohler, B.R. Bub & B.A. Kaplin.Pages 1898-1902.

Curtis’s Botanical Magazine 18(1) (2001)

❚ Lachenalia elegans var. flava. G. Duncan. Pages 18-22.

❚ Crassula tetragona subsp. acutifolia. G.F. Smith, E.M.A.Steyn & A.E. van Wyk. Pages 23-27.

Ecological Applications 10(6) (2000)

❚ Using a dynamic landscape model for planning themanagement of alien plant invasions. S.I. Higgins, D.M.Richardson & R.M. Cowling. Pages 1833-1848.

❚ Remote sensing of vegetation, plant species richness andregional biodiversity hotspots. W. Gould. Pages 1861-1870.

Economic Botany 54(3)(2000)

❚ Differential utilization andethnobotany of trees inKitulanghalo Forest Reserveand surrounding communallands, Eastern Tanzania. E.J.Luoga, E.T.F. Witkowski & K.Balkwill. Pages 328-343.

EnvironmentalManagement 26 (2000)

❚ Developing multiple speciesconservation reserves andhabitat conservation plans. D.C. Pearson. Pages S1.

Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 127(4)(2000)

❚ ITS sequence evidence for the disjunct distributionbetween Virginia and Missouri of the narrow endemicHelenium virginicum (Asteraceae). M.C. Simurda & J.S.Knox. Pages 316-323.

Journal of Zoology 251 (2000)

❚ Climate, vegetation and predictable gradients in mammalspecies richness in southern Africa. P. Andrews & E.M.O’Brien. Pages 205–231.

Nature 405(6785) (2000)

❚ Following Africa’s lead in setting priorities. G.A.B. daFonseca, A. Balmford, C. Bibby, L. Boitani et al. Pages 393–394.

Nordic Journal of Botany 20(3) (2000)

❚ Revision of the genus Genlisea (Lentibulariaceae) in Africaand Madagascar with notes on ecology andphytogeography. E. Fischer, S. Porembski & W. Barthlott.Pages 291-318.

❚ A new species of Dicoma (Asteraceae-Mutisieae) fromSwaziland. S. Ortiz & I. Pulgar. Pages 347-351.


❚ An empirical formula forestimating the water use ofScaevola plumieri. C.I. Peter& B.S. Ripley. Pages 593-596.

South African Journalof Science 97 (January/February 2001)

❚ Rethinking ecologicalrehabilitation in arid andwinter rainfall regions ofsouthern Africa. S.J. Milton.Pages 47-48.

❚ Origin of the enigmaticcircular barren patches(‘Fairy Rings’) of the pro-Namib. C.F. Albrecht, J.J. Joubert& P.H. De Rycke. Pages 23-27.

❚ Nutritional value of wild, leafy plants consumed by theVhavenda. C. Nesamvuni, N.P. Steyn & M.J. Potgieter.Pages 51-54.

Systematic Botany 25(4) (2000)

❚ Phylogenetic relationships in the Commelinaceae: I. Acladistic analysis of morphological data. T.M. Evans, R.B.Faden, M.G. Simpson & K.J. Sytsma. Pages 668-691.

❚ Congruence and complementarity of morphological andtrnL-trnF sequence data and the phylogeny of the AfricanRestionaceae. P.K. Eldenas & H.P. Linder. Pages 692-707.

Transactions of the Royal Society of SouthAfrica 54(1) (1999)

❚ Plant systematics in South Africa: A brief historicaloverview, 1753–1953. J.P. Rourke. Pages 179–190.

The Sonoran Quarterly 54(4) (2000)

❚ The joy of aloes. C. Babcock. Pages 10-11.

Wildlife Society Bulletin 28(2) (2000)

❚ Impacts and future directions of youth conservationorganizations: wildlife clubs in Africa. M. McDuff & S.Jacobson. Pages 414–425.

—Christopher Willis, Stefan Siebert& Marthina Mössmer

Oikos 91 (2000)

❚ Plant diversity increases resistance to invasion in theabsence of covarying extrinsic factors. S. Naeem, J.M.H.Knops, D. Tilman, K.M. Howe, T. Kennedy & S. Gale. Pages97-108.

Oryx 34(2) (2000)

❚ Business and biodiversity – a mutually profitablepartnership. M. Rose. Pages 83–84.Phytochemistry 55(6) (2000)

❚ Biodiversity: modelling angiosperms as networks. O.R.Gottlieb & M.R.D.B. Borin. Pages 559-565.

Proceedings of the California Academy ofSciences 52(12) (2000)

❚ Chromosome numbers of South African Acanthaceae. T.F.Daniel, K. Balkwill & M-J. Balkwill. Pages 143-158.

South Africa Journal of Science 96 (July/August2000)

❚ Biodiversity research in South Africa: comments oncurrent trends and methods. R. Slotow & M. Hamer. Pages222–224.

South African Journal of Science 96(September/October 2000)

❚ Patterns of research collaboration in academic science inSouth Africa. J. Mouton. Pages 458-462.

❚ The medicinal use of some weeds, problem and alienplants in the Grahamstown and Peddie districts of theEastern Cape, South Africa. A.P. Dold & M.L. Cocks. Pages467-473.

❚ Further developments in the Species Plantarum: Flora ofthe World project. G.F. Smith. Pages 482-483.

❚ A national vegetation database for South Africa. L.Mucina, G.J. Bredenkamp, D.B. Hoare & D.J. McDonald.Pages 497-498.

❚ Assessing the potential for biological invasion - the caseof Ammophila arenaria in South Africa. U.M. Hertling &R.A. Lubke. Pages 520-527.

South African Journal of Science 96(November/December 2000)

❚ Palaeovegetation at the last glacial maximum in thewestern Cape, South Africa: wood charcoal and pollenevidence from Elands Bay Cave. J. Parkington, C.Cartwright, R.M. Cowling, A. Baxter & M. Meadows. Pages543-546.


Honours Course at theUniversity of Cape Town

The Honours course started on24 January 2000 with taught

courses such as Biostatistics, Phi-losophy of Science, computer pack-ages, and photography courses. Inaddition to these general courses,each student had to choose twomodules. My first module dealt withplant ecology, which consisted ofessays, mini-seminars and discus-sion groups. In the second module,we dealt with plant systematics,which also consisted of assign-ments, discussion groups, mini-seminars, and essays. Both mod-ules were concluded with a semi-nar. At the same time I had to dotwo projects.

In the first project I looked at thepopulation ecology of Aloe plicatilis(Liliaceae) in relation to baboon andfire damage. It was conducted un-

News fromMalawi

der the supervision of Prof. J.Midgely. It was important to do thisstudy because this species suffersextensive damage from veld firesand baboons. The simulationshowed that this species would goextinct if these two factors are notchecked.

My second project was a morpho-logical study of Schizaea pectinata(Schizaeceae). This study wasaimed at finding out whether plantsfrom winter and summer rainfallareas consisted of two distinctgroups, as apparent morphologicaldifferences are visible between thegroups. This project was carriedout under the supervision of Dr J.P.Roux of Compton Herbarium. Theresults showed that the speciescould not be further split into thetwo groups; it should rather begrouped as one species that prob-ably shows continuous variation inresponse to environmental condi-tions.

At the end of the year, we wrotethree exam papers and wrapped upthe course with a final seminar on

the 24 November 2000, which waspresented in front of external exam-iners and the whole department. Ienjoyed this particular seminar, asI knew it was the last one, and I hadgained confidence from previousdepartmental seminars.

It was a tough year with a lot ofwork, making sleep a luxury. Nev-ertheless, I gained a lot from mypostgraduate studies. I am verygrateful to all lecturers and staff ofthe Botany Department at UCT fortheir support, my supervisors DrKoos Roux and Prof. JeremyMidgely, and Prof. Peter Linder forhis criticism and help during theentire course. Many thanks to theSABONET project supporting mefinancially.

—Elizabeth MwafongoCurrent address:

Botany DepartmentUniversity of Cape Town

Rondebosch 7700Cape Town

Tel.: (27) 21 650-4041E-mail:

[email protected]

News fromMozambique

We are pleased to announcethat the NETCAB pro-

gramme has awarded a fellowshipto Samira Izidine, SABONET Re-search Officer, to attend a two-month course at the Centro deBotânica, Instituto de InvestigaçãoCientifica Tropical, Lisbon, Portu-gal.

Samira Izidine, at the Grass Identification Courseheld in Zimbabwe in 1999. (Photo: M. Mössmer)


News fromNamibia

Time has flown since the last edi-tion of SABONET News. We

have not been into the field yet thisyear, as rains have been very late,but we will be doing some shorttrips targeting specific taxa soon.In May we will be doing compre-hensive collecting in several quar-ter-degree squares of the Omahekeregion in the central eastern regionof Namibia. This area is severelyundercollected, a situation that wehope to reverse this year.

SABONET activities over the lastfew months have been concen-trated around data cleaning andbatch-checking. With our traineeback from UCT, the workload hasbeen spread and good progress isbeing made. We spent quite a whilerearranging the monocot hall afterreceiving ten new herbarium cabi-nets. Although we ordered from thesame firm as last time, the cabinetswere slightly higher than the pre-vious batch! The difference wassmall, but sufficient to prevent usfrom putting them under a counterthat was supposed to go over them.Lesson Learned: specify if you wantsomething with certain dimen-sions. Obviously a herbarium cabi-net is not a herbarium cabinet is nota herbarium cabinet….

It was our pleasure to host theSABONET Steering CommitteeMeeting and the Mid-Term Reviewin Windhoek during February. Thisgave us an opportunity to share ourpleasure in the progress we havemade with the help of what we con-sider to be the most successful col-laborative project ever for WIND.We hope that all our visitors en-joyed their time in Namibia.

A few very busy months lieahead, with the Red Data List andseveral other publications nearingcompletion, and the PoaceaeChecklist getting started. We will behard at work on these in the hopethat SABONET will receive recog-nition for its achievements and findfunding for another phase.

—Coleen Mannheimer

Rare Plants Rediscovered in the Northern Cape

A recent trip was made to the Northern Cape by Erich van

Wyk (NBI, Pretoria), Paul Smith(Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) andPriscilla Burgoyne (NBI, Pretoria)as part of the NBI/Millennium SeedBank (MSB) collaboration. The pri-mary objective of the expeditionwas to collect seeds for the MSB,

mainly from the familyMesembryanthemaceae. The sec-ondary goal was to collect any goodseeding species endemic to the re-gion. Mesembs were targeted, asthe area is well known for the nu-merous endemic mesembs, whichwere in full seed at that time of theyear. As an expert on these taxa,Priscilla was co-opted for this pur-pose. The field trip was a great suc-cess in terms of numbers of speciesand seed collected, despite the unu-sually hot weather (45ºC in theshade on the shadeless Kners-vlakte!). Seed of 72 species was col-lected, including 46 mesembs.

Of greater botanical interest wasthe rediscovery of two long-lostplant populations. The first wasDioscorea elephantipes (L’Hérit.)Engl. (Dioscoreaceae), a spectacu-lar shrubby climber up to 1.5 mhigh with a huge caudex reachinga diameter of up to 0.75 m, mainlyexposed above ground. Its reticu-lated skin resembles that of an el-ephant, hence the specific name.Owing to its unusual appearance,this attractive plant has beenovercollected and is now threat-

ened in the wild. It has not beenseen near Komaggas since 1954.Using rough directions provided byJohan Hurter (NBI, Lowveld Na-tional Botanical Garden), our teamspent a whole day searching for thiselusive species, with no success.Finally, on the point of giving up,we asked a local shepherd, who

Erich van Wyk and Paul Smith(foreground) enjoying lunch.

Dioscorea plants found nearKomaggas showing the unusualcaudex surface texture.


immediately recognised the plantwe were looking for, and directedus to a very healthy population. Ona steep mountainside, we found ap-proximately 1 000 plants concen-trated on a scree slope. Althoughthere was no seed, we were able tothoroughly document the location,size and ecology of the population.

Our second interesting find wasCylindrophyllum hallii L. Bolus(Mesembryanthemaceae) on a pla-teau near Loeriesfontein. This plantis of great interest as its sister spe-cies all come from the Little Karoo.In notes accomanying the originaldescription, the collector H. Hallstated that only about 200 plantswere seen. We followed telephonedinstructions from Johan du Toit, anamateur succulent enthusiast fromGeorge, who directed us to the site

of this single known population.The population has not been docu-mented or collected since 1960, andwe were very excited to find it. Onlyabout 219 (see box) living plantswere left, with clear signs of pre-dation. We saw many dead plants,possibly victims of drought or uti-lisation by animals. Fortunately,seed was in ample supply and wewere able to collect capsules fromsome 85 plants very safely, takingless than 5% of what was available.This is exactly the kind of speciesthat needs ex situ conservation—down to only one known wildpopulation, severely threatened atthe site and a candidate for RedData listing. The germination pro-tocol for this species will now beworked out to ensure that if the re-maining population should die out,seed and the methodology would

Cylindrophyllum hallii

Total number of plants: ca 374

Juveniles: 31 (8%)

Adults: 188 (50%)

Dead: 155 (42%)

Percentage of plants flowering in the last floweringseason: 2–3%

Predated or damaged plants: 98%

Threats to habitat: Soil erosion due to natural weathering. Possibletrampling if area is overgrazed.

Threats to taxon: Eaten and trampled by animals—not clear whichspecies, but possibilities include Aethomys namaquensis (NamaqualandRock Mouse), which has a colony close by; armoured ground crickets(subfamily Hetrodinae of the Tettigonidae), the remains of which werefound in the area; and Papio ursinus (baboons), the dung of which wasfound in the area. Drought.

Associated vegetation: Stomatium sp., Ruschia centrocapsula, Barleriasp., Hereroa hesperantha, and Zygophyllum retrofractum.

Red Data List Status : Not included in the List.

be available for its reintroduction.

Other exciting finds include flow-ering specimens of Haemanthusunifoliatus found together with theDioscorea near Komaggas. Ruschiasandbergensis was found at theMesselpad Pass, southwest ofSpringbok. Seed collections weremade of two Namaqualandendemics, namely Psilocaulonfoliosum and Enarganthe octonaria.The latter is a monotypic genusfound only in the Richtersveld andnorthern Namaqualand.

Paul Smith would like to thank theBritish Airways Assisting Conserva-tion Programme, which enabled him toparticipate in this expedition.

—Paul Smith, Priscilla Burgoyne& Erich van Wyk

Cylindrophyllum hallii in habitat.

Armoured ground cricket. (From: Skaife,African Insect Life)


News fromSwaziland

For the first time our small li-brary has been arranged ac-

cording to a recognised system—we have adopted the Dewey Deci-mal Classification System. Fromour small collection of less than 300books, we hope the library willgrow in the coming years. We areeagerly awaiting the delivery of a

book consignment kindly donatedby SABONET, which includes a se-lection of NBI publications and allvolumes of Bothalia published todate.

The three computers at SDNH arenow linked, thanks to the tirelessefforts of Trevor Arnold and FrancoAlberts. This means the SABONETspecimen database and plant usedatabase designed for SECOSUDcan be accessed from threeworkstations. Contrary to priorspeculations, the network has not

given us any serious problems.Computerisation of herbariumspecimens is progressing well.

Compared to twelve months ago,the Swaziland National Herbariumhas become a better working place.Staffing levels have improved dras-tically with the official return of theNational Herbarium Curator,Gideon Dlamini, and recruitment ofa SABONET Research Officer,Christopher Tshabalala. Our lim-ited working space has been filledto capacity.

—Titus S. Dlamini

News fromZambia

Computerisation

The University of Zambia Her-barium has already encoded 3 100specimens, mainly species of thePoaceae and a few species of gen-era in the Fabaceae. Currently thedata is not well refined, as most ofthe specimen records did not havegrid references, enhanced by theproblem of the Computer Acces-

sion String (CAS) numbers. How-ever, maps will be bought to helpsort out the grid reference problemfor a number of localities.

Dr Phiri has suggested that I em-bark on a mopping-up operationinvolving insertion of the CASnumbers on specimen sheets andinclusion of grid references in theDatabase. The other members ofstaff will forge ahead to encode newspecimens taking into account theinclusion of grid references andCAS numbers as advised by TrevorArnold.

Backing up was also a problem de-spite having the equipment formaking backups. However, my par-ticipation in the recent DatabaseManagement course held in Preto-ria and the subsequent visit toLusaka made by Trevor Arnold,Stefan Siebert, and Franco Albertsin December 2000, has led to theend of the backup blues. We arenow able to make daily backupsusing the Iomega Zip Drive. Wehave enough diskettes for each dayof work. Besides the Zip Drivebackup, we also make weekly back-ups on Colorado tapes.

We were experiencing serioushardware problems at the Univer-sity Herbarium (UZL) until Trevorand Franco came to our rescue andsorted them out. These problemsranged from wrong hardware set-tings by suppliers to lack of appro-priate hardware support software,compounded by incompatible mainboards. We managed to get re-placements of main boards accom-panied with appropriate supportsoftware from our Lusaka serviceprovider. Everything was repaired,including the installation of a net-work for a set of three computersusing Windows 98. Our computersare now running perfectly. In orderto consolidate the smooth opera-tion of our computer network, Ihave also attended a short coursein Networking.

The speed of computerisation hasbeen hampered by lack of person-

The University of Zambia fourth-year Botany class at the Chirundu FossilMonument Site, Siavonga District, Zambezi Valley, Zambia. Standing thirdfrom left is Angela Gono, SABONET Herbarium Research Officer—on hand toguide the students on the field trip. (Photo: Patrick Phiri)


Ashed Makukula, Patrick Phiri, and theJICA volunteer examine a livingspecimen of the epiphytic fernPlatycerium elephantotis on the bankof Chowo River, Luangwa Valley,Zambia. (Photo: Stephen Tolan)

nel specifically recruited for datacapturing. The current staff mem-bers doing the work have otherprimary duties. From our experi-ence, if one person can do 1 000specimens per month, two will beencoding 6% of our current speci-mens (30 000) in the herbarium ina month. This means that by Feb-ruary 2002 all the current existingspecimens will have been compu-terised, and with three computersthe process may be enhanced.However, the Kitwe and Mfuweherbarium specimens are still un-

touched. The two institutions donot have computers for data encod-ing.

Despite the problems that have notyet been solved, we are trying toutilise every minute and all our newknowledge to have our data com-puterised and preserved. Withcomputerisation as a priority, thefirst thing we will embark on is datasharing. We want to collaboratewith the other herbaria that havenot yet started computerisation. Wehave managed to install the data-

base on the Mount Makulu Her-barium computer. This will be fol-lowed by arrangements to providein-service training to new ap-proaches devised and introducedby the Database Management Sec-tion of the National Botanical Insti-tute, Pretoria.

—Annaniah SakalaHerbarium Technical & IT Officer

UZL HerbariumLusaka, Zambia

The conservation school recently built byStephen and Anna Tolan. (Photo: Patrick Phiri)

Conservation EducationCentre

The Luangwa Integrated RuralDevelopment Project (LIRDP)

has initiated a number of multipur-pose developments in the LupandeGame Management Area (GMA).This NORAD-supported projecthas assisted in the building or reno-vation of schools, clinics, and roads,as well as developing agriculturaland forestry programmes. The ob-jective has been to instil a sense ofpride and ownership of wildlife inthe local people. LIRDP has recentlybeen transformed into a Unit of theZambia Wildlife Authority calledSouth Luangwa Area ManagementUnit (SLAMU) to provide continu-ity in the realisation of sustainableconservation of wildlife. SLAMUhas constructed a complex of of-fices for the Project’s Headquartersat Chinzombo Wildlife ResearchStation, where the Mfuwe Her-barium is located. NORAD shouldbe commended for having devel-

oped a tangible wildlife conserva-tion management nucleus—amodel that can later be extended toother National Parks in the coun-try.

A British couple, Stephen and AnnaTolan, have introduced another di-mension to conservation pro-grammes in the Luangwa Valley.Under the Chipembele EducationTrust, the Tolans have built the Con-servation Education Centre in theLuapande GMA located at theirnew residence (13o12’S, 37o42’E)midway between Chinzombo andNyamaluma Wildlife Training Insti-tute. The Centre will provide suchfacilities as a library, illustrationsembracing topography, geologyand wildlife of the Luangwa Valley.They plan to run education pro-grammes for the children to bedrawn from the Lupande GMA.Their aim is to sensitize the chil-dren, at their tender ages, to appre-ciate the importance of wildlife toZambia’a tourism industry. Such

goals are similar to programmesthat are run by the EducationUnit of the National BotanicalInstitute at Kirstenbosch Botani-cal Garden, where children fromvarious residential areas ofCape Town are brought to theGardens using the Institute’sfleet of buses. If children of theLupande GMA grow up to lovetheir wildlife, it is hoped that fu-ture generations will constituteformidable vanguards that willeffectively reinforce the conser-vation of wildlife in the South

Luangwa National Park. The Tolanshave initiated a noble programmefor the people of the Luangwa Val-ley. The Centre needs local and in-ternational support to help developthe infrastructure (electricity, water,educational aids, equipment,books, etc.) essential in the manage-ment of Environmental Education.

Rare Epiphytic Fern

Towards the end of December 2000I spent a few days working in the


Mfuwe Herbarium at ChinzomboWildlife Research Station, outsidethe South Luangwa National Park.At about the same time, StephenTolan of the Chipembele EducationTrust told Ashed Makukula that hehad seen a rare plant along theChowo River, a tributary of theLuangwa River. When Ashed askedme to help identify the plant, I sug-gested that we go and see the plantin situ.

On 27 December 2000, a searchteam for the rare plant was ar-ranged; it comprised StephenTolan, a Japanese (JICA) VolunteerBiologist attached to ChinzomboWildlife Research Station, AshedMakukula and myself. The JICAOfficer provided the four-wheel-drive vehicle. The search for therare plant followed the Lion Hunt-

ers’ track that winds along theChowo River. The vehicle wasparked after driving through thewild terrain for about 4 km. The laststretch of about 3 km, heading to-wards the Chindeni Hills, was cov-ered by walking through a mosaicof mopane, riparian and miombowoodlands. Although this area islion-infested, the JICA VolunteerBiologist and I felt very secure inthe company of the alert, experi-enced, and capable hands ofStephen and Ashed, both of whomcarried guns for our personal pro-tection.

It was a tiring walk. The path tra-versed thicket formations fringingthe Chowo banks as the river me-anders through the steep slopes ofthe Chindeni Hills. A yellow-flow-ered shrub, Bauhinia tomentosa L.appeared to be a co-dominant spe-cies in this thicket. (Incidentally, B.tomentosa, which is a plant of po-tential horticultural value, has alsobeen recorded on the Zambian sec-tor of the middle Zambezi Valley. Itis a low altitude species; the distri-bution range extends to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, Mozam-bique, Zimbabwe and East Africa.)

When we had almost lost hope ofever finding the plant, Stephenbreathed a sigh of relief. He an-nounced that we had arrived at thesite where he found the strange

Two gymnospermous fossil tree trunks at the Chirundu Fossil MonumentSite, maintained by the National Heritage and Monument Commission,Zambia. (Photo: Patrick Phiri)

Lathe-turned wooden containersmade from the heartwood ofColophospermum mopane, adominant species of the modernvegetation at the Chirundu FossilMonument Site. (Photo: Patrick Phiri)

plant—it was an epiphyte fernclothing the barks of the ripariantrees along the Chowo River(13o15’18”S, 31o42’53”E). On closerexamination, I could identify theplant as Platycerium elephantotisSchweinf., belonging to thepteridophyte family Polypodiaceae.This fern, also known to grow onrock surfaces (lithophytic), is char-acterized by possession of dimor-phic leaves (fronds). In Zambia P.elephantotis has been recorded inSolwezi (North-Western Province)and Nchelenge near Lake Mweru(Luapula Province). In the LuangwaValley the late Prof. Jan Kornas re-corded the species at Chibembe,further upstream of the Luangwa.This finding is the first record in theLupande Game Management Areanear Mfuwe. Herbarium specimenswere collected (Phiri 4370) and Mr.Makukula has reported that a liv-ing specimen planted atChinzombo Research Station isdoing fine. A revisit to the ChindeniHills, which forms a remnant topo-graphic range featuring within thefloor of the central Luangwa Val-ley, could certainly yield more newrecords for the Luangwa Valley.

—Dr P.S.M. PhiriCurator

UZL HerbariumLusaka, Zambia

A close-up of Platyceriumelephantotis sharing a niche with aliane on a riparian tree, LuangwaValley, Zambia. (Photo: Patrick Phiri)


Southern African Botanists’E-mail Addresses

The following list includes the e-mail addresses of staff working

in some of the national/universityherbaria, botany departments, bo-tanical gardens, and biodiversityprogrammes of southern Africa.Thanks to all those who have senttheir e-mail addresses to the editorsfor inclusion in this list.

PLEASE NOTE that this list getsupdated every issue of our news-letter. In order to avoid frustrationand possible disappointment, ourreaders are advised to use the mostrecent list available. Some of theaddresses listed in previous edi-tions of the newsletter may nolonger be relevant.

SPECIAL APPEAL: Should you beaware of any changes to one or moreof the addresses listed below, orwould like to be added to the list,please notify Stefan Siebert, [email protected] so that thelist can be updated on a regularbasis.

ANGOLA

Agostinho Neto UniversityDr Esperança Costa:

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Dr Elissaveta Loutchanska:[email protected]

Ms Liz Matos: [email protected]

BOTSWANA

National Herbarium (GAB)E-mail not yet available

Peter Smith Herbarium (PSUB)Dr Elmar Veenendaal:

[email protected] address: [email protected]

University of Botswana Herbarium(UCBG)Mr Mbaki Muzila:

[email protected]

Dr Moffat Setshogo:[email protected]

LESOTHO

Herbarium: National University ofLesotho (ROML)Mr Paseka Mafa:

[email protected] (currentlystudying for a MSc at the Universityof Cape Town)

Ms Annah Moteetee: [email protected](currently studying for a PhD at theRand Afrikaans University)

University Botanic GardenMr Moretloa Polaki: [email protected]

MALAWI

National Herbarium (MAL) andBotanic GardensProf. J.H. Seyani: [email protected]

(currently on leave of absence at theCommonwealth Secretariat,London)

Dr Augustine Chikuni:[email protected]

Mr Dickson Kamundi:[email protected](currently studying for a B.Sc.Honours Degree at the University ofthe Witwatersrand)

Mr Bintony Kutsaira:[email protected]

Mr Zacharia Magombo:[email protected](currently on study leave at Mis-souri)

Ms Cecilia Nyirenda (nee Maliwichi):[email protected]

Ms Elizabeth Mwafongo (neeMayaka):[email protected](currently studying for a M.Sc.Degree at the University of CapeTown)

Mr Montfort Mwanyambo:[email protected]

Ms Gladys Msekandiana:[email protected]

Mr Jameston Kamwendo:[email protected]

General NHBG address:[email protected]

Medicinal plants:[email protected]

National Botanic Gardens ofMalawiMr Mphamba Kumwenda:

[email protected] (currentlystudying for a B.Sc. HonoursDegree at the University ofStellenbosch)

MOZAMBIQUE

LMA HerbariumMr Mario da Silva:

[email protected] Samira Izidine:

[email protected] [email protected]

Ms Marta Manjate:[email protected] [email protected]

LMU Herbarium: EduardoMondlane UniversityMr Salomão Bandeira:

[email protected] Filomena Barbosa:

[email protected] Carlota Quilambo:

[email protected]

Department of Biological Sciences:Eduardo Mondlane UniversityJohn Hatton: [email protected]

NAMIBIA

National Botanical ResearchInstituteMs Patricia Craven:

[email protected] Gillian Maggs-Kölling:

[email protected] NBRI address:

[email protected]

National Herbarium (WIND)Ms Esmerialda Klaassen:

[email protected] Coleen Mannheimer:

[email protected]

National Botanic GardenMr Henk Dauth: [email protected]


Vegetation SurveyMr Ben Strohbach:

[email protected]

National Plant Genetic ResourcesCentreMs Herta Kolberg:

[email protected]

Namibian Tree Atlas ProjectMs Barbara Curtis/Coleen

Mannheimer:[email protected]

Polytechnic of NamibiaMr Dave Joubert:

[email protected]

SOUTH AFRICA

Bolus Herbarium (BOL): Universityof Cape Town (includes AssociatedStaff)Mrs Anne Bean: [email protected] Peter Bruyns:

[email protected]. Tony Hall: [email protected] Cornelia Klak:

[email protected]. Peter Linder:

[email protected] Sioban Munro:

[email protected] Trinder-Smith:

[email protected] George Verboom:

[email protected] Library:

[email protected]

Buffeslkloof Private Nature Reserve& HerbariumMr John Burrows:

[email protected]

C.E. Moss Herbarium (J): Univer-sity of the WitwatersrandProf. Kevin Balkwill:

[email protected] Mandy-Jane Balkwill:

[email protected] Glynis Cron:

[email protected] Donald McCallum:

[email protected] Reneé Reddy:

[email protected] Ramagwai Sebola:

[email protected]

Coastal & Environmental ServicesDr Ted Avis: [email protected] Kate Johnson: [email protected]

Compton Herbarium (NBG & SAM)Ms Jo Beyers: [email protected]

Ms Pascale Chesselet:[email protected]

Mr Christopher Cupido:[email protected]

Dr Peter Goldblatt:[email protected]

Dr Hubert Kurzweil:[email protected]

Dr John Manning:[email protected]

Dr Ted Oliver: [email protected] John Rourke:

[email protected] Koos Roux: [email protected] Dee Snijman:

[email protected]

Donald Killick Herbarium,KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conserva-tion ServiceMr Rob Scott-Shaw: [email protected]

Durban Botanic GardensMr Christopher Dalzell (Curator):

[email protected] Barry Lang (Senior Horticulturist):

[email protected] Richard Symmonds (Education

Officer/Horticulturist):[email protected]

Free State National BotanicalGardenMr Martin Lumley:

[email protected] Amadeus Mogale (Curator):

[email protected] sending mail to a staff member at theFree State National Botanical Garden, insertthe name of the person in the subject line

Harold Porter National BotanicalGardenMs Karin Behr (Curator):

[email protected]

Herbarium SoutpansbergensisMr Norbert Hahn: [email protected]

Jonkershoek HerbariumMs Melanie Simpson:

[email protected]

Karoo Desert National BotanicalGardenMr Ian Oliver (Curator):


Kimberley McGregor (KMG)Museum HerbariumMs Tania Anderson (Curator):

[email protected] Annemarie van Heerden (assistant

curator): [email protected]

Kimberley South African NationalParks Herbarium (KSAN)Dr Hugo Bezuidenhout:

[email protected] Michelle Harck:

[email protected]

Kirstenbosch National BotanicalGardenMr Graham Duncan:

[email protected] Philip le Roux (Curator):

[email protected] Ernst van Jaarsveld:

[email protected] [email protected] (home)

Kirstenbosch Research CentreDr Neville Brown:

[email protected] George Davis:

[email protected] J de Wet Bosenberg:

[email protected] John Donaldson:

[email protected] Timm Hoffman:

[email protected] Boniswa Madikane:

[email protected] Guy Midgley:

[email protected] Charles Musil:

[email protected] Ingrid Nänni:

[email protected] Mike O’Callaghan:

[email protected] Les Powrie:

[email protected] Tony Rebelo: [email protected] Mike Rutherford:

[email protected] Stephanie Wand:

[email protected]

Lowveld National Botanical GardenMr Rudi Britz (Curator):

[email protected] Johan Hurter: [email protected] Willem Froneman:

[email protected] sending mail to a staff member at theLowveld National Botanical Garden, insert thename of the person in the subject line

Mpumalanga Parks Board:LydenburgMs Sonnette Krynauw:

[email protected] Mervyn Lotter:

[email protected]

Natal Herbarium (NH)Dr Neil Crouch: [email protected] Jeff Govender:

[email protected]


Ms Nikaya Govender:[email protected]

Mr Alfred Ngwenya:[email protected]

Ms Nontuthuko Ntuli:[email protected]

Ms Yashica Singh:[email protected]

Ms Rosemary Williams (Curator):[email protected]

Natal National Botanical GardenMr Brian Tarr (Curator):

[email protected]

National Botanical InstituteProf. Brian J Huntley:

[email protected] (CEO)Prof. Gideon Smith:

[email protected] (Director:Research & Scientific Services)

Mr Christopher K Willis:[email protected] (Director:Gardens & Horticultural Services)

Mr John Winter:[email protected] (Deputy-Director: Gardens & HorticulturalServices)

Dr Maureen Wolfson:[email protected] (Deputy-Director: Research and Education)

National Herbarium (PRE)Dr Heidi Anderson:

[email protected] John Anderson:

[email protected] Clare Archer:

[email protected] Robert Archer:

[email protected] Trevor Arnold:

[email protected] Antoinette Botha:

[email protected] Christien Bredenkamp:

[email protected] Priscilla Burgoyne:

[email protected] Maud Cloete: [email protected] Carole de Wet:

[email protected] Bernard de Winter:

[email protected] Emsie du Plessis:

[email protected] Lyn Fish: [email protected] Gerrit Germishuizen:

[email protected] Hugh Glen: [email protected] René Glen: [email protected] Beverley Harris:

[email protected] Lesley Henderson:

[email protected] Paul Herman:

[email protected]

Ms Millissa Heymann:[email protected]

Ms Marie Jordaan:[email protected]

Ms Marinda Koekemoer (Curator):[email protected]

Ms Louisa Liebenberg:[email protected]

Mr Cuthbert Makgakga:[email protected]

Mr Mactavish Makwarela:[email protected]

Ms Alice Masombuka:[email protected]

Mr David Mbedzi:[email protected]

Mr Jean Meyer: [email protected] Nicole Meyer:

[email protected] Beverly Momberg:


Ms Caroline Netnou:[email protected]

Mr Solomon Nkoana:[email protected]

Dr Sarie Perold: [email protected] Cathy Prentice:

[email protected] Julie Ready: [email protected] Elizabeth Retief:

[email protected] Paulus Sebothoma:

[email protected] Shirley Smithies:

[email protected] Hannelie Snyman:

[email protected] Christina Steyn:

[email protected] Elsie Steyn: [email protected] Jacques van Rooy:

[email protected] Helen van Rooyen:

[email protected] Janine Victor:

[email protected] Mienkie Welman:

[email protected]

NBI Libraries:Mary Gunn Library:

[email protected], Mary Gunn Library (Ms

Estelle Potgieter), National Her-barium: [email protected]

Librarian, Kirstenbosch (Ms YvonneReynolds): [email protected]

Peninsula Technikon: Departmentof Biological SciencesMr JC Coetzee:

[email protected] FitzPatrick Institute of African

Ornithology: Tierberg KarooResearch Centre field station

Dr Sue Milton:[email protected]

Plant Genetic Resources Unit,Agricultural Research CouncilDr Roger Ellis: [email protected]

Potchefstroom UniversityDr Matt Buys:

[email protected] Sarel Cilliers:

[email protected]. Braam Pieterse:

[email protected]

[email protected]

Pretoria National Botanical GardenMr Hans Heilgendorff (Curator):

[email protected]: [email protected]

Qwa Qwa Herbarium: University ofthe North (Qwa Qwa campus)Prof. Rodney Moffett:

[email protected]

Qwa Qwa Herbarium: University ofthe North (School of Life Sciences)Prof. Laco Mucina:

[email protected]

Rand Afrikaans University: BotanyDepartmentDr Patricia Tilney: [email protected]. Herman van der Bank:

[email protected]. Ben-Erik van Wyk:

[email protected]

Range and Forage Institute, Agri-cultural Research CouncilDr Kathy Immelman:

[email protected]

Rhodes University: Botany Depart-mentDr Nigel Barker:

[email protected]. CEJ Botha:

[email protected]. Roy Lubke: [email protected] Pete Phillipson:


Mr BS Ripley: [email protected]

Rondevlei Scientific ServicesHerbarium, Wilderness NationalPark, SedgefieldDr Nick Hanekom: nickh@parks-

sa.co.zaMs Francine Rubin: franciner@parks-

sa.co.zaDr Ian Russell: [email protected] Beate Sachse: beates@parks-

sa.co.za


Saasveld Herbarium (SAAS): PortElizabeth TechnikonMr Mike Cameron:

[email protected] Peet Peens (Curator):

[email protected]

H.G.W.J Schweickerdt Herbarium(PRU): University of PretoriaProf. Braam van Wyk:

[email protected]

Scientific Services Herbarium,Department of Water Affairs andForestry, KnysnaMr Johan Baard (Curator):

[email protected] Rynhard Kok: kokr@dwaf-

wcp.wcape.gov.za

Selmar Schonland Herbarium,GrahamstownMs Estelle Brink:

[email protected] Tony Dold: [email protected]

Skukuza Herbarium (KNP), KrugerNational ParkMs Guin Zambatis (Curator):

[email protected] Nick Zambatis: nickz@parks-

sa.co.za

Southern Cape HerbariumYvette van Wijk: [email protected]

OR [email protected]

Technikon Pretoria HerbariumCecilia de Ridder:

[email protected] du Plessis (Curator):

[email protected]

Umtamvuna Herbarium,Umtamvuna Nature ReserveMr Tony Abbott:

[email protected]

University of Cape Town: BotanyDepartmentProf. John Bolton:

[email protected]. William Bond:

[email protected] Jill Farrant:

[email protected] Jeremy Midgley:

[email protected]. Willie Stock:

[email protected]

University of Cape Town: Institutefor Plant ConservationDr Dave Richardson:

[email protected]

University of Durban-Westville:Botany DepartmentProf. Snowy Baijnath:

[email protected] Ashley Nicholas:

[email protected] Pravin Poorun:

[email protected]

University of Natal-Durban: Bio-logical Sciences DepartmentProf. Alan Amory:

[email protected]. Patricia Berjak:

[email protected] Glen Campbell:

[email protected]. John Cooke:

[email protected] Bruce Page:

[email protected]. Norman Pammenter:

[email protected] Herbert Sibiya:

[email protected] Dehn von Ahlefeldt:

[email protected] Paula Watt:

[email protected]

University of Natal-Durban: Elec-tron Microscope Unit, GeorgeCampbell BuildingMr James Wesley-Smith (plant

scientist):[email protected]

University of Natal-Pietermaritzburg: School of Botany& ZoologyMs Angela Beaumont:

[email protected] RP Beckett: [email protected] Clinton Carbutt:

[email protected] TJ Edwards: [email protected] CW Fennell: [email protected] JF Finnie: [email protected] JE Granger: [email protected]. EF Hennessy:

[email protected] Steven D Johnson:

[email protected] NP Makunga: [email protected] Christina Potgieter:

[email protected] MT Smith: [email protected]. Hannes van Staden:

[email protected]

University of the North: BotanyDepartmentMr Martin Potgieter:

[email protected] Pieter Winter:

[email protected]

University of the Orange FreeState: Department of Botany andGeneticsDr Andor Venter:

[email protected]. Johan Venter:

[email protected]. RL Verhoeven:

[email protected]

University of Port Elizabeth: BotanyDepartmentDr JB Adams: [email protected]

(Estuarine vegetation)Prof. Guy C Bate: [email protected]

(Estuarine micro-algae)Dr EE Campbell: [email protected]

(Terrestrial vegetation)Dr DR du Preez: [email protected]

(Surf zone algae)Mr PT Gama: [email protected]

(Microalgae)

University of Pretoria: BotanyDepartmentProf. George Bredenkamp:

[email protected]. Albert Eicker:

[email protected] Brigitte Hamman:

[email protected] Gwen Koning:

[email protected] Veldie van Greuning:

[email protected]

University of Pretoria: Pharmacol-ogy DepartmentProf. JN Eloff: [email protected]

University of Stellenbosch: BotanyDepartmentProf. Frikkie Botha:

[email protected] Charlie Boucher:

[email protected] Leanne Dreyer: [email protected] Karen Esler: [email protected] Lynn Hoffmann:

[email protected] Bettie Marais: [email protected]. Valdon Smith:

[email protected] Piet Vorster: [email protected]

University of Stellenbosch: BotanicgardenPiet van der Merwe:

[email protected]

University of the Transkei: BotanyDepartmentProf. R Bhat: [email protected] Sizwe Cawe:

[email protected] Nikolova:

[email protected]


University of North-West: Biologi-cal Sciences DepartmentMr David Phalatse:

[email protected]

University of Venda: Botany De-partmentMr Maanda Ligavha: ligavham/

[email protected] Colleen Todd: todd_colleen/

[email protected] Robert Tshivhandekano: robie/

[email protected]. Pablo Weisser: pablo/

[email protected]

University of the Western Cape:Botany DepartmentDr Derek Keats: [email protected] Richard Knight: [email protected] M Raitt: [email protected] Frans Weitz: [email protected]

University of the Witwatersrand:Department of Animal, Plant andEnvironmental SciencesProf. Ed Witkowski:

[email protected]

University of the Witwatersrand:Department of PharmacyDr Alvaro Viljoen:

[email protected]

Witwatersrand National BotanicalGardenMs Sharon Turner (Curator):

[email protected] Andrew Hankey:

[email protected] sending mail to a staff member at theWitwatersrand National Botanical Garden,insert the name of the person in the subjectline

NOTE: Additional South Africanbotanists’ e-mail addresses can beaccessed on the internet at thefollowing address:http://www.ru.ac.za/departments/herbarium/SAHWG/address.html

The web page entitled “SouthernAfrican Botanists’ addresses” wasprepared by Peter Phillipson, RhodesUniversity and the Selmar SchonlandHerbarium, Grahamstown, withthanks to Nigel Barker and LesPowrie.

SWAZILAND

National Herbarium (SDNH)Mr Titus Dlamini (Curator):

[email protected] address can be used to contact TitusDlamini, Gideon Dlamini or Bongani Dlaminiat the National Herbarium. Insert the nameof the person in the subject line.

ZAMBIA

Forestry Herbarium (NDO)Mrs EN Chupa: [email protected] Zimba: [email protected]

Herbarium (UZL): University ofZambiaMs Tasila Banda-Sakala (presently

studying at the Arizona StateUniversity, Phoenix, USA):[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Mr David Chuba:[email protected] (currentlystudying for a MSc at the Universityof Cape Town)

Ms Florence Nyirenda:[email protected]

Dr Patrick Phiri:[email protected] [email protected]

Munda Wanga Trust (BotanicalGarden)Mr Douglas Gibbs:

biopark.zamnet.zmIndependentMr Mike Bingham:

[email protected]

ZIMBABWE

Biodiversity Foundation for AfricaMr Jonathan Timberlake:

[email protected] (work) [email protected] (home)

National Herbarium (SRGH) &Botanic GardenMr Ezekeil Kwembeya:

[email protected] Claid Mujaju: [email protected]

National Herbarium (SRGH):[email protected] Nozipo Nobanda (Curator):

[email protected] Ratidzayi (Rattie) Takawira:

[email protected] (alsoavailable through SRGH)

TEAM VUMBA: The EnvironmentalAssociation for Management ofVumba’s Unique MountainBiodiversity AreasDr Colin Saunders:

[email protected]

University of Zimbabwe: Depart-ment of Biological SciencesDr Shakkie Kativu:

[email protected] I Mapaure: [email protected] Clemence Zimudzi:

[email protected]

University of Zimbabwe: Institute ofEnvironmental StudiesProf. Bruce Campbell:


Prof. Peter Frost: [email protected]

IndependentMr Michael Kimberley:

[email protected] (cycads, orchidsand succulents)

Ms Meg Coates Palgrave:[email protected]

Mr Darrel CH Plowes:[email protected]

Dr Fay Robertson:[email protected] (ecology ofmiombo and other dry tropicalwoodlands)

Ms Cathy Sharp: [email protected](ecology of macrofungi, especiallyin miombo woodlands)

Mrs Mary Wilkins/Ellert:[email protected]

Botanists Working onSouthern AfricanPlant Taxa

This section lists e-mail addresses ofa few of the botanists living outsidesouthern Africa that are workingwith southern African plant taxa. Ifyou would like to be included in thislist, please notify one of the editorstogether with the names of thefamilies/taxa you are working on.

AUSTRALIA

Queensland Herbarium, Toowong,QueenslandBryan Simon:

[email protected] (work)OR [email protected](home)

(Tropical grasses)

ENGLAND

IUCN: World Conservation UnionCraig Hilton-Taylor:

[email protected]

Royal Botanic Gardens, KewDiane Bridson:

[email protected](Rubiaceae, Vahliaceae)Dr Dick Brummitt:

[email protected] Thomas Cope:

[email protected]


(Poaceae)Dr Phillip Cribb:

[email protected](Orchidaceae)Dr David Goyder:

[email protected](Asclepiadaceae, Fabaceae)Ms Yvette Harvey:

[email protected](Capparaceae, Lamiaceae,

Sapotaceae)Dr Michael Lock:

[email protected](Fabaceae, Xyridaceae,

Zingiberaceae)Dr Alan Paton:

[email protected](Lamiaceae, Verbenaceae)Dr Sylvia Phillips:

[email protected](Eriocaulaceae, Poaceae)Dr Gerald Pope:

[email protected](Asteraceae)Dr Brian Schrire:

[email protected](Fabaceae, Rhamnaceae)Dr Kaj Vollesen:

[email protected](Acanthaceae: Blepharis, Duosperma)

GERMANY

Friedrich-Schiller University, JenaDr Norbert Zimmermann:

[email protected](Euphorbiaceae,Mesembryanthemaceae)

University of BayreuthProf. Sigrid Liede: sigrid.liede@uni-

bayreuth.de(Asclepiadaceae,

Mesembryanthemaceae)Dr Ulrich Meve: ulrich.meve@uni-

bayreuth.de(Asclepiadaceae)University of Cologne: BotanicalInstituteDr Joachim Thiede:

[email protected](Aizoaceae, Crassulaceae)

University of Hamburg: Institutfuer Allgemeine BotanikProf. Dr HEK Hartmann:

[email protected](Aizoaceae, Mesembryanthema)Dr Pia Parolin: [email protected]

hamburg.de (desert ecology,ecophysiology)

NETHERLANDS

Agricultural University,WageningenIr Ben Groen: [email protected](Asphodelaceae,

Mesembryanthemaceae)Prof. Dr LJG van der Maesen:

[email protected](Fabaceae, Mesembryanthemaceae)Dr Ir Jan Wieringa: Herbarium

Vadense (WAG):[email protected]

(Fabaceae, Aphanocalyx, Bikinia,Icuria, Monopetalanthus andTetraberlinia)

NEW ZEALAND

Victoria University, WellingtonMr Fanie Venter: [email protected]

NORWAY

Agricultural University of Norway:Department of Biology and NatureConservationProf. Kåre Lye: [email protected](Cyperaceae)Dr Brita Stedje:

[email protected](Anthericaceae, Asphodelaceae,

Hyacinthaceae)

Botanical Institute, The NorwegianArboretum, University of Bergen,HjellestadDr Cornelis Berg:

[email protected](Moraceae, Ulmaceae)

SWEDEN

Swedish Museum of NaturalHistoryDr Mari Kallersjo:

[email protected](Asteraceae, Myrsinaceae,

Primulaceae)Prof. Bertil Nordenstam:

[email protected](Compositae, especiallySenecioneae and Calenduleae,Syncarpha, Colchicaceae:Anticharis)

Uppsala UniversityProf. Kåre Bremer:

[email protected](Asteraceae)Mr Mattias Iwarsson:

[email protected](Lamiaceae, Leonotis)

SWITZERLAND

Institute for Systematic Botany,University of ZürichProf. Christopher Cook:

[email protected] [email protected](Hydrocharitaceae,Limnocharitaceae, Lythraceae,Podostemaceae, Pontederiaceae)

Juerg Schoenenberger:[email protected](Penaeceae, Oliniaceae,Rhynchocalycaceae)

USA

Bishop Museum (Department ofNatural Sciences): HawaiiDr George Staples:

[email protected](Convolvulaceae)

Iowa State University: Departmentof Botany (Ada Hayden Herbarium)Prof. Robert Wallace:

[email protected](Molecular systematics and phylogeny

of Aizoaceae s.l. (includingMesembryanthemaceae), Aloaceae/Asphodelaceae,Cactaceae,Didiereaceae,Nyctaginaceae,Phytolaccaceae,Portulacaceae)

University of California: JepsonHerbariumBruce Baldwin:

[email protected](Asteraceae: Blepharispermum,

Welwitschiella)

University of Missouri-Columbia:Dunn-Palmer Herbarium (UMO)Dr Leszek Vincent:

[email protected](Asteraceae: Senecio, Iridaceae:

Aristea)

WALES

National Botanic Garden of WalesDr Charles Stirton:

[email protected](Fabaceae, Hyacinthaceae, Rosaceae,

Verbenaceae)

Last updated 19 March 2001


Alan Paton

Annaniah Sakala

Antoinette Burkhardt

Ben Strohbach

Brian Chirwa

Brian Huntley

Carina Haasbroek

Christopher Willis

Coleen Mannheimer

Darrel Plowes

Elizabeth Mwafongo

Elizabeth Retief

We thank the following people and organisations for help withpreparing this issue of SABONET News:

Emsie du Plessis

Erich van Wyk

Estelle Potgieter

Gideon Smith

Gun Mickels Kokwe

Hester Steyn

Herta Kolberg

Jonathan Timberlake

Lloyd Nkoloma

Lyn Fish

MacImage

Maureen Wolfson

Mike Bingham

Nyasha Rukazhanga-Noko

Patrick Phiri

Paul Smith

Priscilla Burgoyne

Ronell Klopper

Sandra Turck

Sharon Turner

Soul Shava

Titus Dlamini

Trevor Arnold

Vanilla! Design Studio

Profiles

Southern African Herbaria:National Herbarium, Zimbabwe

Living Collections:Witwatersrand National BotanicalGarden, South Africa,and Botswana National BotanicalGarden

Computer viruses

In the July 2001 editionof SABONET News...


This publication is a product of the Southern African Botanical Diversity Network (SABONET), a programme aimed at strengtheningthe level of botanical expertise, expanding and improving herbarium and botanic garden collections, and fostering closer

collaborative links among botanists in the southern African subcontinent.The main objective of SABONET is to develop a strong core of professional botanists, taxonomists, horticulturists and plant

diversity specialists within the ten countries of southern Africa (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, SouthAfrica, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe). This core group will be competent to inventory, monitor, evaluate, and conserve thebotanical diversity of the region in the face of specific development challenges, and to respond to the technical and scientific needs ofthe Convention on Biological Diversity.

To enhance the human resource capacity and infrastructure available in the region, SABONET offers training courses, workshopsand collaborative expeditions in undercollected areas. The programme also produces a series of occasional publications, the SouthernAfrican Botanical Diversity Network Report Series.

SABONET is cofunded by:• The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/World Conservation Union—

Regional Office for southern Africa (IUCN-ROSA)• The Global Environment Facility (GEF)/United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

For more information contact one of the following addresses:

General enquiries about SABONETSABONET Coordinatorc/o National Botanical InstitutePrivate Bag X101Pretoria 0001South AfricaTel.: (27) 12 804 3200Fax: (27) 12 804 3211/5979E-mail: [email protected]

ANGOLALuanda HerbariumUniversidade Agostinho NetoCaixa Postal 3244LuandaTel.: (244) 2 320486Fax: (244) 2 335225E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

BOTSWANAUniversity of Botswana HerbariumDepartment of Biological SciencesFaculty of SciencePrivate Bag 0022GaboroneTel.: (267) 3552587Fax: (267) 585097E-mail: [email protected]

LESOTHONational Environment SecretariatDevelopment HousePrivate Bag A23Maseru 100Tel.: (266) 311 767Fax: (266) 310 506E-mail: [email protected]

MALAWINational Herbarium and Botanic Gardensof MalawiP.O. Box 528ZombaTel.: (265) 523388/118/145Fax: (265) 522108E-mail: [email protected]

MOZAMBIQUELMA HerbariumInstituto Nacional de InvestigaçáoAgronómicaCaixa Postal 3658MavalaneMaputoTel.: (258) 1 460097Fax: (258) 1 460074E-mail: [email protected]

NAMIBIANational HerbariumNational Botanical Research InstitutePrivate Bag 13184WindhoekTel.: (264) 61 2022020Fax: (264) 61 258153E-mail: [email protected]

SOUTH AFRICANational HerbariumNational Botanical InstitutePrivate Bag X101Pretoria 0001Tel.: (27) 12 804 3200Fax: (27) 12 804 3211E-mail: [email protected]

About SABONET

SWAZILANDNational HerbariumMalkerns Agricultural Research StationP.O. Box 4MalkernsTel.: (268) 52 83017Fax: (268) 52 83360/83490E-mail:[email protected]

ZAMBIAHerbariumDepartment of Biological SciencesUniversity of ZambiaP.O. Box 32379LusakaTel.: (260) 1 293653Fax: (260) 1 253952E-mail: [email protected]

ZIMBABWENational Herbarium and Botanic GardenP.O. Box CY550CausewayHarareTel.: (263) 4 708938Fax: (263) 4 728317 or 708938E-mail: [email protected]

SABONET Mid-Term Review Living Plant Collections: Malawi ...Windhoek, the triffid weed Chromolaena,...

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Transcript of SABONET Mid-Term Review Living Plant Collections: Malawi ...Windhoek, the triffid weed Chromolaena,...