SABONET News Vol. 5 No. 3 December 2000 · SABONET News Vol. 5 No. 3 December 2000 135 Editorial...

133SABONET News Vol. 5 No. 3 December 2000


FRONT COVER: Spring daisies next to the main lawn, Kirstenbosch. (Photo: Colin Paterson-Jones)

In this issue135 Editorial

136 Profile: Esperança da Costa

138 Tribute to Christopher Willis

142 16th AETFAT meeting: opening speech

147 Vision for AETFAT in the next millenium

152 SSC9 held in Meise, Belgium

152 NBI External Review

154 GTI Workshop for Africa

155 Fifth International Solanaceae Conference

161 IUBS—advancing biology in the 21st Century

163 Red Data List: the road to conservation in Mozambique

167 Red Data List: spotlight on Swaziland

168 Red Data List: the Zimbabwe workshop

170 Brachystegia spiciformis—an exciting discovery

173 Living Plant Collections: Kirstenbosch

182 Computerisation Update

185 Southern African Botanical Gardens Needs Assessmentpublished

191 The Second World Conservation Congress

193 World-wide checklist of plants in cultivation

194 Southern African Herbaria: Compton Herbarium

197 Obituary: Aubrey Banda

198 The Paper Chase

203 Book Review:

• Augrabies Splendour

• 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

206 E-mail Addresses

215 Regional News Update


EditorialWelcome to the 15th edition of SABONET News,the last newsletter of the Southern African Botani-cal Diversity Network Project for the year 2000.This is the official newsletter of a GEF/UNDPsupported regional capacity building project, morecommonly known as SABONET. The major eventto have taken place recently has been the transferof Christopher Willis from his current position asRegional Coordinator of the SABONET Project, toDirector: Gardens & Horticultural Services withinthe National Botanical Institute, South Africa.Fortunately Christopher will remain at the sameaddress where he will be able to provide guidanceto the new SABONET Regional Coordinator, StefanSiebert. We wish Christopher all the best in hisnew position and we are certain he will success-fully transform this new challenge into an excitingachievement. Special words of thanks and grati-tude from his team, country coordinators andcolleagues are featured in this issue.

In this edition we report back on the Fifth Interna-tional Solanaceae Conference, held in July 2000.The Second World Conservation Congress was heldin Amman, Jordan, from 4-11 October 2000. Thiscongress focussed on aspects concerning conserva-tion of biodiversity and programme development,in the light of the predicted extinction crisis. TheXVIth AETFAT 2000 Meeting was held in Meise,Belgium (28 August to 2 September 2000). A reporttakes a look at the history and aspirations ofAETFAT. The 9th Meeting of the SABONET SteeringCommittee and the 2nd TriPartite Review ofSABONET were held shortly before the AETFATmeeting in Meise, Belgium, on 27 August 2000.

In addition to our regular features, this issue ofSABONET News launches a new series featuringthe living collections in southern African botanicalgardens. The first garden to be portrayed isKirstenbosch—one of southern Africa’s mostrenowned gardens. Our series on southern Africanherbaria continues, with the Compton Herbarium,South Africa, being featured. We have also in-cluded a follow-up article on the computerisationof specimens in southern African herbaria. Wehave finally managed to appoint a SABONET

programmer, Mr Franco Alberts, who will beresponsible for the future advancement in thecomputerisation of participating herbaria. Wewelcome him to the SABONET team.

The Red Data List project has enhanced its capac-ity-building actions over the last few months, withthree major training courses and workshops held inMozambique, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Wepublish a report on these meetings to illustrate howthese countries made contributions to the Red DataList and resolved discrepancies as part of theirassessment process.

This edition includes articles on the first discoveryof Brachystegia spiciformis in South Africa; a newSABONET publication: Southern African BotanicalGardens Needs Assessment; as well as a profile onProf. Dr. Esparança Costa from the Agostinho NetoUniversity in Angola.

As new Regional Coordinator I should probably saysomething about myself. I was born in a smalltown called Empangeni, and grew up in othersmall towns named Hluhluwe, Mandini andMatatiele—all wonderful places in the greenprovince of South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal. I am abotanist with an interest in biodiversity studies andam currently finalising my Ph.D. at the Universityof Pretoria. For this project I spent a lot of time inthe undulating hills of Sekhukhuneland, kingdomof the Pedi in South Africa, an intriguing place witha rich human, botanical and geological history.

I am sure that you will once again join me inthanking Christopher Willis, Janice Golding,Nyasha Rukazhanga-Noko, Carina Haasbroek andMarthina Mössmer for their tremendous dedicationand enthusiasm during another successful year ofthe SABONET project. From the SABONET edito-rial team, we would like to wish our readers apeaceful and safe holiday season and a successfuland productive New Year. ❑

Stefan J. SiebertSABONET Regional Coordinator

15 December 2000

SABONET web site:

www.sabonet.org


Biologia em Fevereiro de 1985 com a defesa da tese.A tese que constituía um estudo “Taxonómico dafamília Bignoniaceae para Conspectus FloraeAngolensis” foi elaborada no decorrer do estágio deum ano que efectuou, sob a orientaçâo da Dra MariaAdélia Diniz Martins, de 1983 a 1984 no Centro deBotânica do Instituto da Investigaçâo Cientifica emLiboa Portugal. O estágio foi suportado por umabolsa de estudo da Fundaçâo Calouste Gulbenkiande Portugal, comparticipada pelo Instituto Nacionalde Bolsas de Angola (INABE).

Regressando a Luanda em 1985 foi contratada comoassistente para a disciplina de Biologia das Plantasno Departamento de Biologia da faculdade deCiências, e cedo assumiu a chefia da secçâo deBiologia das Plantas tendo organizado um Herbárioque hoje constitui o Herbário didático da Facul-dade.

Foi convidada em 1985 pela African BiosciencesNetwork (ABN) a participar no meeting que serealizou em Harare em Dezembro do mesmo anosobre “Forest Management in Africa”, tendo porisso assumido a responsabilidade de ponto decontacto da ABN em Angola.

Dirigiu o Departamento de Biologia da Faculdadedesde 1986 a 1990. Em 1988 concorreu para a cate-goria de Assistente graduado e foi aprovada. Em1990 integrou o grupo de quadros da UniversidadeAgostinho Neto seleccionados e autorizados afrequentar cursos de Pós graduaçâo no exterior doPais. Assim frequentou em 1990 a parte curriculardo curso de Mestrado em Produtividade Vegetal daUniversidade Técnica de Lisboa (UTL) e em 1992iniciou o desenvolvimento de pesquisas na área daFitoecologia conducentes á elaboraçâo de uma tesede Doutoramento, que viria a terminar com sucessoem 1997 no Instituto Superior de Agronomia daUTL.

È membro de várias organizaçôes cientificas, nacio-nais e internacionais. Participou em vários congres-sos cientificos, organizou em 1999 as 3as JornadasCientificas da Faculdade de Ciências. É autora decerca de 10 artigos cientificos.

Orienta teses de licenciatura aos alunos do últimoano da licenciatura em Biologia e participa activa-mente na colaboraçâo com Instituiçôes cientificas

P r o f i l e

(A summary in English follows the Portuguese.)

Esperança Maria Eduardo Francisco da Costa,casada, nascida aos 3 de Maio de 1961 no bairroIndígena uma zona modesta da cidade de Luanda.Em 1967 ingressou na escola primária no 227 doreferido bairro, onde estudou até à 40 classe. Aindadurante a fase de infância cedo se revelou o seugosto pela natureza principalmente por plantasajudando sempre a sua mâe nos cuidados de jardim.

Ingressou na Escola Secundária General GeraldoVictor na Villa Alice em 1970 onde concluiu em 1972o 2E ano do secundário. Em 1977 terminou o ensinoLiceal que efectuou no Liceu Feminino D. Guiomarde Lencastre, em Luanda, tendo se destacado pelasmédias que possuía ficando apertencer ao quadrode Honra da Escola. Foi encaminhada para o ensinoSuperior no Pré Universitário de Biologia quefuncionou no ano lectivo 1978/79 na Faculdade deCiências.

Frequentou a licenciatura em Biologia na mesmaFaculdade onde pela excelente média que possuiafoi em 1982 recrutada como monitora coadjuvandoo Professor Carlos Alvarez na regência prática dadisciplina de Cormófitos, tendo elaborado um“Manual de protocolos de aulas práticas da discipli-na de Cormófitos”. Terminou a licenciatura em

Esperança da Costa

▲ Esperança da Costa


nacionais para o estabelecimento de programascientificos de biodiversidade, multidisciplinares decaracter nacional e regional.

Hoje é Professora Titular da Universidade Agosti-nho Neto, Vice-Directora para os AssuntosCientificos da Faculdade de Ciências e responsávelpelo Herbário de Luanda. Como tarefas e objectivoprincipal a atingir, pretende dinamizar ainvestigaçâo cientifica em Angola, aliciar recursoshumanos para a área da docência e investigaçâobotânica por forma a contribuir para a inventariaçaodo coberto vegetal em Angola, contribuindo assimpara uma gestâo integrada dos recursos naturaisexistentes.

Para além das tarefas ligadas ao profissionalismogosta de andar a pé e de cozinhar e de ouvir música.

ENGLISH SUMMARY

Esperança Maria Eduardo Francisco da Costa wasborn on 3 May 1961 in a modest suburb ofLuanda. In 1967 she started Primary School in herhome suburb. Her love of nature—especiallyplants—was visible at an early age, as she lovedhelping her mother care for their garden.

She started Secondary School in 1970 at the EscolaSecundária General Geraldo Victor in Villa Alice.In 1977 she completed her high school educationwhich took place at the Liceu Feminino D.Guiomar de Lencastre in Luanda. Esperançaexcelled in her studies at high school and wasawarded academic honours. She then studied fora degree in Biology at the Science Faculty [ofAgostinho Neto University] where she wasappointed as an Assistant Lecturer to ProfessorCarlos Alvarez. She completed her degree in 1985with her thesis on the taxonomy of the familyBignoniaceae for Conspectus Florae Angolensis. Shethen furthered her research by spending a yearunder the mentorship of Dr Maria Adélia DinizMartins, from 1983 to 1984 at the Centro deBotânica (Centre for Botany) at the Instituto deInvestigação Cientifica (Institute for ScientificResearch) in Lisbon, Portugal. The visit wassupported by funding from the CalousteGulbenkian Foundation in Portugal and from the

INABE (National Institute of Bursaries ofAngola).

Returning to Luanda in 1985, Esperança wasappointed Assistant in Plant Biology within theBiology Department of the Science Faculty at theUniversity of Agostinho Neto. She soon pro-gressed to head this unit and helped to developthe Luanda Herbarium, which is an invaluableasset to the faculty. In December 1985 she wasinvited by the African Biosciences Network(ABN) to participate in a meeting on “ForestManagement in Africa” in Harare, Zimbabwe. Shethus became the contact person for ABN in An-gola. She headed the Biology Department at theUniversity of Agostinho Neto from 1986 to 1990.In 1990 she was given the opportunity to under-take a Masters Degree in Plant Productivity at theTechnical University of Lisbon (UTL), Portugal. In1992 she began researching an area of plantecology, which culminated in a doctorate beingawarded to her in 1997 by the Institute forAgronomy of the UTL, Portugal.

She is a member of various scientific organisa-tions, both nationally and internationally. She hasparticipated in several scientific congresses andauthored approximately ten scientific articles.

She now supervises students in Biology andactively participates in scientific programmesconcerning biodiversity, both nationally andregionally. Esperança is currently National Coor-dinator for the SABONET Project in Angola. Sheis a Professor at the Agostinho Neto University,Vice-Director for Scientific Matters within theScience Faculty and manages the Luanda Her-barium. Her main objectives are to promotescientific research in Angola and mobilise humanresources into lecturing and botanical research inorder to contribute to the inventory of vegetationcover of Angola, in this way contributing to anintegrated approach to natural resource manage-ment. Esperança is married, and besides theactivities related to her profession, she enjoyshiking, cooking and listening to music. ❑

Translated from the original Portuguese byCarla Willis.


pleasant way in which he has always givenencouragement to colleagues at the NationalBotanical Institute and further afield in southernAfrica. He is always friendly and helpful andbelieves in personal involvement to get thingsdone. It should therefore not come as a surprisethat Chris has contributed the lion’s share of copyfor many numbers of SABONET News, been co-author of most books in the occasional ReportSeries, arranged a number of training courses(some single-handedly), kept up a lively corre-spondence with the National Coordinators of tencountries, participated actively in field trips,represented the Project at a variety of differentnational, regional and international forums, Icould go on …

Chris is now Director for Gardens and HorticulturalServices of the National Botanical Institute, based inPretoria, and I am looking forward to many moreyears of close and productive collaboration. I amsure he will rise to the occasion of this very impor-tant responsibility and make a great success of it.Above all, Chris, I am sure you will enjoy this newchallenge and bring to it the same levels of drive,inspiration and commitment and, of course, main-tain an active interest in SABONET.

Go well!

The major recent event to take place within theSABONET Project has been the transfer of MrChristopher Willis from his current position asRegional Coordinator of the SABONET Project,to Director: Gardens and Horticultural Serviceswithin the National Botanical Institute, SouthAfrica. He has been a great inspiration to all thepeople involved in the SABONET Project andthe driving force behind its success. It would beinappropriate to publish this edition withoutwords of goodbye to the man who made thisnewsletter possible. This is what his colleagueshad to say:

Prof. Gideon Smith, Office of the Research Director,National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa:

Since the appointment of Chris Willis to theposition of SABONET Coordinator in 1996, I havehad the pleasure and privilege of working closelywith him on a number of major initiatives. Thishas meant that together we have travelled almost70 000 km by car and aeroplane, sharing innumer-able meals spiced up with Nali (a rather sharpMalawian chilli sauce) and enjoying a variety ofchocolate mousses of widely differing quality!Perhaps I can therefore claim that over the pastfive-odd years I have had many opportunities toget to know Chris rather well. Most impressive ofhis numerous positive qualities has been hisenergetic commitment to SABONET and the

▲ Chris with Dr Alan Rodgers of UNDP/GEF, Arusha, Tanzania, and Prof. BrianHuntley, CEO of the National Botanical Institute, South Africa. (Photo: G.F. Smith)

Goodbye (but not farewell), ChristopherYour big heart will be missed


Rosemary Williams, Natal Herbarium,National Botanical Institute, Durban, South Africa:

Best wishes and many thanks to Chris from all atNatal Herbarium. We’re sure his energy and hardwork that have been a driving force in makingSABONET so successful, will be much appreci-ated in his new post.

Mbaki Muzila, University of Botswana Herbarium,University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana:

To show our appreciation of the support we havereceived from SABONET, through Mr ChrisWillis’s hard work, I would like to congratulatehim on his new appointment.

Annaniah, Angela, Florence and Patrick,Herbarium, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia:Christopher Willis, SABONET-Zambia will missyou very much. You have been such a nice personto work with in this Project. We’ll never regrethaving been under your leadership as theSABONET Regional Coordinator.

Your approach was so open and very sociable; butyou stood firm in championing the ideals ofSABONET. Having come this far, we thank youfor your words of wisdom and encouragement.You made life so easy and comfortable during allSABONET training courses, culminating in one ofthe most successful international efforts, in theform of the Nyika 2000 Botanical Expedition.Your hard work and input to SABONET will beremembered and we hope we’ll still come back toyou to learn. We wish you all the best in your newpost.

Remember the SABONET-Zambia team loves you.Chris, keep your smile. We wish you the best ofluck.

Titus Dlamini, Swaziland National Herbarium,Swaziland:

It is difficult for me to find enough words todescribe the tremendous amount of work MrWillis has done for SABONET. Evidence of hisinvaluable efforts is the level of achievementreached by the project, especially the long list ofSABONET publications. Working with ten differ-

ent nations is quite a challenge but he took it onboldly and very professionally. His tireless,unsparing and dedicated work was comple-mented by a positive attitude towards his taskand colleagues. I think we can all learn from hisexample. I wish him success in his new task andhope to see his continued support for SABONET.

Esperança Costa, Luanda Herbarium, Luanda,Angola:We wish Christopher Willis all the best in his newjob and please Chris, stay close to us.

Puleng Matebesi, Herbarium,National University of Lesotho, Lesotho:

It has been a pleasure working with Chris, espe-cially during the tough days in Lesotho. We wishhim good luck and know he will work hand-in-hand with his new colleagues.

Farewells from Zimbabwe:

It was nice having you in the SABONET pro-gramme. You were quite an inspiration to us—Memory Chandinyira

Thank you so much for being a blessing toSABONET and to many people. You have been agreat help in SABONET. I wish you all the best inyour new position—Erina Nyamhanga

Thank you very much for all the work and com-mitments you put into the SABONET programme.May God bless you in your new post—NancyMugarisanwa

It was a great privilege working with you inSABONET. You coordinated the project with greatwisdom and patience, and always made an effortto accommodate all of us! Your unique leadershipand your well-designed programmes groomed usinto competent botanists. Thank you for yourinput in our careers and best wishes in your newjob—Ratidzayi Takawira

Your work in SABONET has been outstanding;thank you so much for your good leadership andendurance. You bring good qualities to your newpost—Christopher Chapano

It was nice to work with you in SABONET. Bestwishes in your new job—Anthony Mapaura


▲ Chris next to a giant lobelia on Mount Kilimanjaro. (Photo: E. Romanowska)

I really appreciated your sterling efforts andsupport under the SABONET programme. Bestwishes in your new post—Soul Shava

It was nice having you in the SABONET pro-gramme. I wish you the very best in your newjob—Phelex Manyanga

Your work in SABONET was greatly appreciated.I wish you success in your new post and hopeyou will continue the good work—David M.Mutigwa

You were a pleasure to know and work with. Thesuccess of SABONET thus far has been mainly theresult of your hard work and well-developeddiplomatic skills. I am sure you will be greatlymissed at our SABONET Steering CommitteeMeetings—Nozipo Nobanda

Staff of the Coordinator’s OfficePretoria, South Africa:

Imagine the pain one feels when the head of thefamily leaves to stay with someone else—al-though that person continues supporting thefamily, the pain will still be there and it willdefinitely not be the same as when the personwas home all the time. This is exactly the pain theSABONET team is feeling about Mr ChristopherWillis’s move from being the SABONET RegionalCoordinator to the position of Director: Gardensand Horticultural Services. We know it is the bestmove for him and that it will be very challeng-ing—but at the same time we feel envious be-cause we know what an asset he will be and howlucky the people who will be working with himare.


During the years that we have known Chris, wehave known him to be a gentle person, dedicatedto his work and in particular to the SABONETProject. His laptop was his “second wife”, whichhe carried around all the time. Now that he is nolonger part of SABONET, we think it will notharm mentioning the name that we have givenhim over the years, which we doubt he knowsabout as we only called him that when he was notwithin earshot: “Mr Perfect”. This was becauseChris always wanted things done the right way.Even the printers of SABONET publications knew

that if they made a mistake, even omitting a fullstop, they had to re-print the whole lot! Chris wasvery committed to his work and the phrase LeadBy Example really applies in Chris’s case. Weworked like a family and there are a lot of thingseach and every one of us learnt from Chris. Hewill be greatly missed by the SABONET team; theadvantage is that his office will be just threedoors away from the SABONET offices. We havehowever been blessed by getting a good replace-ment for him: Stefan is proving to be an equallynice and gentle person. ❑

Coleen Mannheimer, National Herbarium, Windhoek, Namibia:

AG PLEASE CHRISTOPHER(sung to tune of Ag please Daddy)

Ag, please Christopher don’t leave us all here crying –All us sabonetteers needing you so much.

We don’t want you to garden there, to horticult or to direct.We just want you to see us safely home and dry.

refrain

Workshops, meetings, budgets, people’s bleatings,Computers, vehicles, and all those publications.

We promise to obey your rules, to write our news and use our toolsThat SABONET and you have given us so far.

We’re sorry we were sometimes late, we won’t get you into a stateJust come back Chris and we will all be nice to you.

refrain

Please, please Willis, man, don’t be mean and leave us nowJust when we were starting to like you so much

We’ll all be bad and down our tools, go on strike and act like foolsSABONET will wish they’d never heard of us.

refrain

So OK, friend go if you must, we’ll see you now and then we trust,We hope your new position is more fun for you.

If it turns out you miss us too, we’d really like to hear from youSo bye-bye Chris and don’t forget that WIND loves you.


(British Museum) and Mr Milne-Redhead (Kew)in the British Museum in order to discuss taxo-nomic problems in the genus Clematopsis. The twoBritish scientists had been working on the samefamily for flora projects in other parts of Africa.The result was not that their problems werecompletely solved—they needed more fieldobservations for that, but that these three bota-nists became enthusiastic about the fact of havingmet and discussed scientific matters.

This meeting, which later proved to be historic,must be seen in its period: 50 years ago, five yearsafter the Second World War, a time of handwrit-ten or typewritten letters, a time when travelling,even within Europe, was still rather hazardous. Ajourney by boat to Africa, and certainly to centralAfrica, took very long. Even by plane, travellingtime was very long, with more than one stopoverfor refuelling. Upon arrival in the tropics,botanising was very difficult too. At that time,scientists were working in a rather isolatedmanner.

Seen in this context, it is clear that the threebotanists were extremely happy with their Lon-don meeting. M. Léonard proposed to organisemeetings of that kind on a regular basis, and MrExel proposed to create a new association—abilingual association—to embrace French- andEnglish-speaking countries in Africa, coveringnearly the whole of tropical Africa. The “Associa-tion pour l’Etude Taxonomique de la Flored’Afrique Tropicale” was proposed as a name.The abbreviation AETFAT was to be pronouncedin an English way.

In December 1950, 21 botanists gathered at Kew,accepting the idea of a new association, electingMr Meikle as Honorary Secretary. The seven mainobjectives of the association were published in thefirst Bulletin of 1951 to improve co-operation andcommunication between botanists interested in

Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to welcome you tothe opening session of the AETFAT congresswhich takes place in one of the auditoria of theFree University of Brussels, the same venuewhere, 50 years ago, the first congress was held.My heartfelt thanks to the rector who allowed usto organise this meeting at this venue. At thesame time I would use the occasion to point outthat the rector himself has vast experience ofresearch in Africa. AETFAT is doing well. Almost230 members have registered and have arrived inBelgium for this congress. Almost half of themwork or live in Africa.

Botanists, and certainly taxonomists, face thedifficult task of having to classify and to givenames to plants. Taxonomic decisions are notalways evident, and even the best-trained taxono-mists often struggle with taxonomic conceptswhen studying a group in detail. This was trueone hundred years ago, it was true fifty years ago,and now, at the beginning of a new century, it isstill true. Although molecular data are veryhelpful nowadays, botanists doing fieldworkneed practical tools.

Communication and exchange of ideas is veryuseful when trying to solve problems, to getanswers to scientific questions. If this exchangecan be organised in front of a live, critical, andspecialised audience, and if this leads to a betterdirect contact between researchers, resulting incollaboration, exchange of ideas and joint re-search programmes, then scientific research has amuch higher chance of being effective and suc-cessful.

Fifty years ago, the basic need for contact be-tween scientists was already apparent. In 1950,when Jean Léonard, assistant at the “Institutnational pour l’étude agronomique du Congo”(INEAC), was working on the Ranunculaceae forthe Flore du Rwanda Burundi, he met Mr Exel

16th AETFAT Meeting: Opening speechMeise, Belgium, 27 August 2000

by Jan Rammeloo


Tropical African taxonomy. The objectives were(AETFAT Bulletin No. 1):

1. To invite those botanists actively engaged orinterested in the study of the Tropical Africanflora to join the association, and to inform theHonorary Secretary of their particular interests.

2. To circulate periodically a list of names andaddresses of members giving their special inter-ests, requirements and desiderata (specimens orinformation).

3. To facilitate exchange of separates of publishedworks, so far as is possible—members are spe-cially requested to send at least one copy of eachwork as published to the Honorary Secretary.

4. To correlate work on floras in course of publica-tion by attempting to reach agreement on nomen-clature of species common to these floras, and, asfar as possible, on the major points of taxonomyinvolved.

5. To produce a series of maps showing the distri-bution of species of ecological importance or ofspecial interest.

6. To provide a link between members working inherbaria and those engaged in field studies in allparts of Tropical Africa.

7. To arrange meetings between members of theAssociation for discussion of particular taxo-nomic problems, and for collaboration in theirsolution.

The objectives which are enumerated have alwaysbeen the leitmotiv of AETFAT. Today, we canconclude that

1. The association has a growing number ofmembers

2. The list of the members and their addresses isregularly published in the AETFAT Bulletin.Members can make announcements or makerequests to colleagues via the Bulletin.

3. A library has been created and new acquisitionsare regularly published in the Bulletin.

4. Scientists have more contacts for their work onthe different floras: they can exchange ideas, withrespect for divergent opinions.

5. Contacts between botanists working in the fieldand herbarium botanists have improved.

6. Plenary sessions and congresses are organisedon a regular basis, generally every third year.This is our sixteenth congress.

The main objectives of the association haveremained important. The means of achievingthem have strongly evolved over the last fiftyyears, following the developments of modernsociety. This evolution is apparent in the increas-ing number of members, the history of the Bulle-tins, the congresses and the proceedings of thecongresses.

From the numbers shown in Figure 1, it is clearthat AETFAT has become a recognised forum forbotanists working on the African flora.

Figure 1


Let us have a look at the congresses and theplaces where they were organised:

Brussels 1951; Oxford 1953; Paris 1957; Lisbon &Coimbra 1960; Genova & Firenze 1963; Uppsala1966; Munich 1970; Genève 1974; Las Palmas1978; Pretoria 1982; St Louis 1985; Hamburg 1988;Zomba 1991; Wageningen 1994; Harare 1997;Meise 2000.

AETFAT started with one hundred members atthe beginning of the fifties, growing steadily toabout 200 members (1954), 244 (1959), 405 (1964),419 (1968), 525 (1974), 590 (1978), 587 (1982), 646(1985); 863 (1988), 990 (1992), 900 (2000).

The Brussels Congress (1951) had 33 participantsfrom 11 countries. In Lisbon and Coimbra therewere 48 participants from 12 countries, and thenumber of participants increased to 235 for thiscongress. Another feature, not to be neglected, isthat on the first photographs you can hardly findany African participant—AETFAT was a Euro-pean-driven organisation. Later on, as can bejudged from the Wageningen Congress photo,Africans became more numerous, and now, nearlyhalf the participants in the Meise Congress areliving or working permanently in Africa. I thinkthat everybody is happy with this evolution.African botanists have been formed and arespreading their knowledge all over Africa. Never-theless, a strong collaboration with European orWestern countries will remain important. Thenumber of specimens conserved in Europeanherbaria largely exceeds the number of specimens

kept in African herbaria and, furthermore, botanyand herbaria are not always—or even not at all—the main concern in African countries. Africanherbaria do not always get the means they de-serve, which is harmful for continuity,—continu-ity being of vital importance to herbaria andbotanical collections.

Nine congresses have been organised in Europe,followed by one in Africa, one in the USA, one inEurope, one in Africa, one in Europe, one inAfrica, one in Europe. The fact that the congressesare now organised alternately in an Africancountry and in a country from another continent(usually Europe for historic reasons), is a highlyappreciated evolution.

Not only the number of congress participants andthe number of members are important. Whenconsidering the member lists by country, it ap-pears that in the beginning AETFAT was prima-rily an organisation of Europeans; even themembers from African countries were Europeans.In 1965 (Bulletin 16), 126 members came fromAfrican countries, 38 of them were from SouthAfrica. In 1979, 167 members were from Africancountries, 79 of them from South Africa. Thishigher number of South African members isimportant for the history of botany in Africa,considering that South Africa became the motorbehind SABONET, the botanical network ofsouthern African countries. The creation ofSABONET has really strengthened botanicalresearch in the southern part of Africa, develop-

Figure 2


ing a south-south collaboration, a type of collabo-ration that is considered extremely valuable forthe future. Since the creation of SABONET, thenumber of AETFAT members of African countrieshas increased considerably.

AETFAT activities are centralised by the SecretaryGeneral, who changes after each congress. Be-tween two congresses contact is maintainedthrough the publication of the Bulletin, which issent to all members.

The first Bulletin was a stencilled leaflet of twopages. Now the Bulletin is a hefty volume andmodern offset printing techniques are used. Meiseintroduced the use of the Internet as a majorfacility for keeping contact and organising thecongress.

Of even greater importance is the forum that isgiven to botanists working on the African flora topublish the results of their research in the pro-ceedings published after each congress. TheBrussels meeting gave rise to 135 proceedingspages, totalling 11 contributions. The most pro-lific was the Zomba Conference with 1 512 pagesof proceedings from 131 contributions. Even if thenumber of pages does not necessarily give an ideaof the scientific quality of the contents, theseproceedings have always been supervised by ascientific reading committee, and therefore qual-ity is not questioned.

More and more, AETFAT conferences have beenfocusing upon a general theme. Over the years,the general themes have been the following:

• Brussels 1951: Flore et végétation de l’Afriquetropicale.

• Uppsala 1966: Conservation of vegetation inAfrica south of the Sahara.

• Genève 1974: Origines des flores africaines etmalgaches.

• Las Palmas 1978: Taxonomic aspects of Africaneconomic botany.

• Zomba 1991: Plants for the people.

• Wageningen 1994: The biodiversity of Africanplants.

• Harare 1997: African plants. Biodiversity,taxonomy and uses.

• Meise 2000: Systematics and geography ofplants for the understanding of Africanbiodiversity.

During the Oxford Conference of 1953 a commit-tee was formed to prepare a vegetation map ofAfrica, which was published six years later withthe financial assistance of UNESCO. This mapwas essentially based on information collected byfield workers in order to show the vegetation atthe moment of mapping, not representing thepresumed climax types.

Ten years later, because of the success of the firstmap, it was decided at the Florence businessmeeting to prepare a new edition of the map. Thisnew map—accompanied by a 356-page bookwritten by Frank White—was published in Eng-lish in 1983, in French in 1986.

Figure 3


The publication of an annually produced index,whixh enumerated all new taxa from Africapublished in that period, was an important toolfor AETFAT scientists for many years. Morerecently, this publication has been replaced byother publications and other resources.

AETFAT was also a motor for the publication of anumber of indexes: indexes on the exploration ofAfrica, indexes of families dealt with in Africanfloras, indexes of collection localities in differentparts of Africa, collector indexes, indexes toillustrations of vascular plants from Africa,indexes to distribution maps of African plants.…

Ladies and gentlemen, it is clear that AETFAT hasplayed an important role and will always play animportant role in the development of Africanbotany. But AETFAT is a relatively singularorganisation; few similar ones exist. Thesingularities of AETFAT made it a strong organi-sation, but they can also make it vulnerable. Themost remarkable characteristics are the following:

➢ It is an international association where themembers do not pay a membership fee. Tobecome a member, it is sufficient to submitone’s name and address, and confirm fromtime to time if one wishes to remain a member.Entry therefore is extremely easy. Conse-quently, the secretariat must occupy itself witha large number of less active members bysending them bulletins, which nowadays hasbecome an expensive operation. To give youan idea, and not at all wanting to alarm mysuccessor, the cost of sending out the firstbulletin, before the congress in Meise, hasbecome as high as about 90 000 Belgian francs.

➢ Because all the financial responsibility restswith the Secretary General, that person shouldbe assured of a large enough budget to enablethorough preparations for a congress.

➢ The number of delegates grows constantly, andit will become more and more difficult to finda convenient venue for the organisation of acongress.

➢ If the congress takes place in Europe, outsideAfrica, one of the tasks of the secretary-generalis to find enough aid to ensure significantparticipation by Africans.

➢ The growing number of participants at con-gresses leads automatically to larger and largerproceedings, which on the one hand is a goodthing, but on the other hand represents a greatdeal of work for the editor and demands aninitial investment which is not negligible.

➢ If the congress is organised in Africa, theSecretary General is, in most cases, obliged toassociate himself with institutions situated inricher countries to be able to do good work.

I wish to be clear, the above points did not at allmake me regret the preparations for the congress,but one day AETFAT should do a SWOT analysis,in order to get a clear idea of its possibilities andpotential dangers.

I had the feeling that this congress has been aturning point, in the sense that a “home page” forthe congress has greatly facilitated the oftendifficult contacts with certain African countries.E-mail has certainly worked miracles, whileevidently not solving all the problems. I cannotimagine the difficulties in organising a congresssuch as this without contacts by e-mail.

The information tools are a challenge for Africa.Information technology will certainly aid Africanscientists to overcome an often great isolation.But I should not develop these ideas, I leave toProf. Sebsebe Demissew of Addis Abeba the careto disclose his own, it is he who is going to indi-cate the future of AETFAT for us as he sees it.

At any rate, I wish that AETFAT will be able toprosper as it has done up to the present. ❏

Jan RammelooNational Botanical Garden of BelgiumDomein van BouchoutB-1860 MeiseBELGIUMTel.: (32) 2 269 39 05Fax: (32) 2 270 15 67E-mail: [email protected]

Parts of the speech were originally presented inFrench. These sections were kindly translated byMs Mienkie Welman of the National Herbarium,National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, SouthAfrica.


Introduction

At the University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, wethink of AETFAT (Association for the TaxonomicStudy of the Flora of Tropical Africa/Associationpour l’Etude Taxonomique de la Flore d’AfriqueTropicale) primarily as an association of botanistsworking on the Flora of Africa, but also on thetaxonomy of African plants, the plant geographyof Africa, the vegetation of Africa and the biologyand uses of African plants.

But before going to talk more about these sub-jects, it would be worthwhile to highlight somefacts, not only about AETFAT, but also aboutAfrica.

• Africa is the world’s second largest continent,with 30 million square kilometres of land mass(North America, the third largest continent,has an area of 24 million square kilometres ofwhich very extensive areas are boreal orarctic).

• Africa has a moderately sized population forits size of ca 680 million inhabitants. Thepopulation density ranges very widely, fromless than one per square kilometre in desertand deep forest to over 500 per square kilome-tre in the highly cultivated Nile Delta at Cairo.

• Africa is a continent with very diverse culturesand languages. It is possible to distinguish ca1 500 ethnic groups with ca 1 500 differentlanguages, which fall in six language familieswith a total of 15–20 distinct branches. Forexample, in my country Ethiopia, with an areaof 1 134 000 km2 (approximately the size ofFrance, Spain and Portugal combined), whichhas a population of about 60 million people,there are over 85 nationalities, each with itsown distinct culture and language.

• Africa is a continent with diverse topography,climate and vegetation, ranging from ex-

tremely dry and hot deserts in the Sahara andKalahari to hot and very humid rain forest onthe slopes of Mount Cameroon and cool, highmountains in the Eastern Africa.

• The vascular plant flora of Africa is some-where between 40 000 and 45 000 species(according to the World Conservation Monitor-ing Centre 1992), approximately one fifth ofthe world’s flora. Only tropical and subtropi-cal Asia (with ca 50 000 species) and Centraland South America (with ca 85 000 species)have more.

• Africa is a continent with a long history ofcolonialism in the form of rule from anothercontinent. There were Roman colonies inNorth Africa. Dutch colonies were establishedin South Africa about 350 years ago and Portu-guese colonies were established in tropicalAfrica not much later. The situation culmi-nated within the last hundred years, when themajority of Africa was under the control ofonly seven or eight European countries. Inde-pendence came in the 1960s—a little bit laterfor some.

Vision for AETFAT in the next millenniumby Sebsebe Demissew

▲Chronology of AETFAT Congresses, 1951 to 2000.

Meeting Venue Month and Year

1st Brussels Oct. 1951

2nd Oxford Sept./Oct. 1953

3rd Paris Sept. 1957

4th Lisbon & Coimbra Sept. 1960

5th Genova-Firenze Sept. 1963

6th Uppsala Sept. 1966

7th Munich Sept. 1970

8th Geneva Sept. 1974

9th Las Palmas March 1978

10th Pretoria Jan. 1982

11th St Louis June 1985

12th Hamburg Sept. 1988

13th Zomba April 1991

14th Wageningen Aug. 1994

15th Harare Feb. 1997

16th Brussels Aug./Sept. 2000

17th Addis Ababa Sept. 2003


This is a short summary description of Africa, theplant world of which AETFAT has undertaken tostudy. It is a formidable task, but AETFAT hasmanaged well, and we hope it will continue to doso.

AETFAT—as we know from this 50-year jubileebeing held in Brussels, Belgium—was establishedin 1950, when most of Africa was still undercolonial rule. It was also during this period whenmany of the European botanical institutionsstarted writing modern Floras of their colonies.For example:

• Flora of West Tropical Africa (FWTA) was firstpublished between 1927 and 1936, with thesecond edition appearing between 1954 and1972.

• Flora du Congo Belge began appearing in 1948.

• The first part of Flora of Tropical East Africa(FTEA) was published in 1952.

• Flora zambesiaca (FZ) was first published in1960.

• Flore du Cameroun and Flore du Gabon bothbegan in 1963.

AETFAT started as a working forum for Florawriters and editors, and the problems the associa-tion addressed were at first those of the individu-als or groups of European botanists working on

these floras. The importance of the Floras wasrecorded in the early proceedings where reportson progress with Flora writing were often placedfirst (for example in the sequence of proceedingsfrom the third to the eighth meetings of AETFAT(1957–1974).

Another important subject was agreement on theconcepts and terminology of African vegetation,both in English and French. Broad descriptions ofvegetation were a theme at a number of earlymeetings, including the first AETFAT meeting inBrussels which, incidentally, was held in 1951, not1950, when the organisation was founded.

The species concept in Flora writing has also beenthe subject of a meeting, i.e. the 3rd AETFATMeeting in Paris, 1957.

However, AETFAT soon began to change andadapt, almost like a species of plant or animalliving under changing environmental conditions.We can clearly see this change if we look throughthe sequence of proceedings from the previous 15AETFAT meetings held from 1951 to 1997.

Practical subjects of use for Flora writing, such asinformation on collectors and collections, were ofgreat importance in the early volumes, for exam-ple, the proceedings from the fourth PlenaryMeeting held in Lisbon and Coimbra in 1960.

▲ Participants at the first AETFAT meeting in Brussels, Belgium, held in 1951.


Very soon AETFAT took an interest in floristicplant geography, encouraged by the enthusiasmof one of the founding fathers, Frank White, forthat subject. This gave rise to a number of papersin the proceedings of the Plenary Meetings, forexample, the second meeting in Oxford (1953)and the fifth meeting in Genova-Firenze (1963).

We see the ideas of the conservation of Africanflora and vegetation appearing on the agendaquite early. Conservation was, for example, themain theme at the sixth Plenary Meeting held inUppsala, Sweden, in 1966.

AETFAT also soon included the scientific studiesof useful plants. Useful African plants were animportant theme at the ninth Plenary meeting inLas Palmas in 1978 and again at the twelfthmeeting in Hamburg, 1988, and the thirteenthMeeting in Zomba in Malawi in 1991.

Gradually, AETFAT has widened its scope toinclude more and more basic sciences withinbotany. For example, plant anatomy, cytology,phytochemistry, ecology and plant geography. It

has also held symposia on algae, fungi, lichensand mosses. Thus, AETFAT has become a broadforum for dialogue and scientific research onAfrican plants.

It is interesting to note when the first tropicalAfrican botanist presented a paper at AETFAT. Asfar as we can tell, the first names pertaining totropical African countries appear in the proceed-ings from the fourth meeting in Lisbon andCoimbra, when Dr C.F.A. Onochie from WestAfrica talked about the identification of foresttrees. Later, at the sixth meeting in Uppsala(1966), L. Aké Assi and E. Adjanohoun from Côted’Ivoire appeared.

At the seventh meeting in Munich (1970) therewere more tropical African contributors, mainlyfrom West Africa, both the French- and English-speaking parts. Probably the first East Africanwas A.B. Katende from Uganda, who gave apaper at the 8th meeting in Geneva in 1974. Thenumber of tropical African participants givingpapers has been growing drastically since. There

▲ Participants at the XVIth AETFAT Meeting held in Meise, Belgium, August 2000.


has been a fairly steady increase in African repre-sentation and contributions in subsequentAETFAT meetings and obviously also in thepresent sixteenth AETFAT meeting, where over 50percent of the participants are African.

So AETFAT became a forum for discussion andcollaboration between both the young and themore established European/American botanistsfrom established herbaria and laboratories andbotanists from new African institutions. However,it is probably true to say that the discussionwithin AETFAT was nearly always on the per-sonal level, and institutional involvement onlysecondary. The advantage of this has been that wehave avoided the collaboration from being toodeeply ingrained with politics. It has been aprinciple not to exclude individuals even if thepolitics of their governments were not alwaysgenerally approved. The price of this arrange-ment has been that it has often been difficult toraise funding for the various activities, unless thenecessary personal links could be established.

Connected with this fact—that AETFAT is abotanist-to-botanist organisation—is the uniquefeature that there has never been a membershipfee for belonging to AETFAT, neither for Euro-pean nor for African members. This has made lifemuch more difficult for the General Secretary, butmuch easier for everyone else!

We must not forget to mention the collaborativeprojects, supported by small groups of enthusias-tic AETFAT members with the moral support andoccasional help from everyone else. Soon after itsstart, AETFAT became a forum for big and usefulprojects on a continental scale other than theregional and national floras, for example:

• The AETFAT vegetation map of Africa (firstversion by R. Keay in 1959, the second versionby Frank White in 1983).

• The Distributiones plantarum africanarum. Thisis a useful tool and we all hope it will continueto grow. It was initiated in December 1969,partly following a proposal by Frank White atthe Uppsala meeting in 1966.

• Lebrun & Stork’s checklist of tropical Africanvascular plants (Lebrun & Stork 1991–1997).

Our vision for AETFAT in the nextmillennium

1. AETFAT, at the association level, shouldstrengthen informal collaboration between scien-tists in Africa and Europe/America (or, in duetime, scientists from other continents with aninterest in African plants). We think we shouldmaintain emphasis on individual scientists ratherthan on collaboration between the institutions.However, individual scientists should be encour-aged to establish institutional bonds for specificpurposes. We also feel that the General Secretaryof AETFAT should continue to work for themembership of AETFAT to remain free of charge.That requires the goodwill of some donors, butwe will have to work for that.

2. We think that AETFAT should encourage andmaintain the healthy combination of both appliedand basic sciences, for which it has been knownthroughout its 50-year history.

3. We think that AETFAT should encourage newcollaborative projects like the Vegetation Map ofAfrica. Perhaps it is time for an updated version.We should also not forget that AETFAT initiatedan annual index of new taxa and publications onAfrican seed-bearing plants in 1953. This wasvery cheap for AETFAT members—an idea whichwas taken up for the whole world in 1971 by theRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew (The Kew Record ofTaxonomic Literature) at a considerably higherprice. We have had a checklist of tropical Africanplants (Lebrun & Stork 1991–97). We also have anAETFAT library holding literature relevant to thestudy of African plants. A great tradition tocontinue!

4. AETFAT should generally encourage use andknowledge of modern methods (for example,DNA-studies) in the study of African plants.Africa needs botanists who can understand thenew taxonomic methods. But it is also importantthat the knowledge of the classical methods iskept alive and is actively developed. Collabora-tion through AETFAT members can help us strikea good balance between alpha-taxonomy and themodern methods.


5. AETFAT should encourage the development ofhuman capacity based on good personal relationswithin the wider disciplines of botany in Africaninstitutions through training, in order to realiseour vision for the future.

Many African countries gained their independ-ence in the 1960s, and many of the African her-baria (or other botanical institutions) were estab-lished at that time. But in the last three decades,neither the old colonial masters nor the newAfrican national governments have been too keento train Africans in botany. Earlier European/American botanical collectors tended to use localAfrican people to serve as guides or assistants inmajor botanical collecting trips rather than toencourage the young ones to develop academicexpertise. This has been the state of affairs inmany African institutions. There are a number ofexcellent exceptions, which can act as very en-couraging examples, but still the problem isurgent. In this connection, I would like to remindthis distinguished audience that training youngtaxonomists was on the decline for a number ofyears in the past, even in institutions of thetemperate regions. We all hope the focus onbiodiversity and some of the new instruments, forexample, the Global Taxonomy Initiative, mightchange the trend if we all participate positively.

6. AETFAT should encourage voluntary repatria-tion of information. For historical reasons, majorherbaria in the temperate regions keep largecollections from tropical Africa. These collectionsinclude type specimens. Most national herbaria inAfrica lack reference material for a number ofspecies occurring in their respective countries.

Thus it is most desirable that major herbariarepatriate information. This could be achieved inat least three ways. Primarily making joint collec-tions by partner institutions in the North andSouth, based on a clear Memorandum of Under-standing, and making sure the material collectedis properly named. This is a sure way of repatria-tion of information. Secondly, by making moreinformation (for example type specimens, withgood pictures of the specimens) available on theInternet, as is now being done in the Netherlands

National Herbarium (Leiden, Utrecht &Wageningen). More on-line service and betterlinks/internet-connections in Africa is veryimportant. Thirdly, by trying to promote moredatabases for botanical information both inEurope, America and Africa. Support for suchactivities could be sought from OECD, EU,UNESCO, and others.

African herbaria should play an active role in thisprocess of repatriation, strengthening the rela-tionship with major herbaria and carrying outcollaborative research at the national, regionaland international levels with those herbaria thataddress their concerns.

7. AETFAT should promote the development of acode of conduct in the North-South collaborationin botanical research and also try to encouragepositive use of the principles in the Conventionon Biological Diversity (CBD). Most researchcollaboration is said to be purely scientific, e.g.taxonomic work or other basic botanical research.There are, however, researchers or funding or-ganisations with implicit motives, like the devel-opment of marketable products (e.g. pharmaceu-tical or agricultural). In such cases, agreementshould be made, based on the principles of ben-efit-sharing and prior informed consent by theparties involved. We hope and believe that suchreasoning is in the classical spirit of AETFAT. ❏

Sebsebe DemissewNational HerbariumScience FacultyAddis Ababa UniversityPO Box 3434Addis AbabaETHIOPIAE-mail: [email protected]


SSC9 held in Meise, Belgium

An External Review of South Africa’s NationalBotanical Institute (NBI) was conducted from 28September to 3 October 2000. Botanists includedin the review group included Prof. Peter Crane(Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK), Prof. JamesonSeyani (Commonwealth Science Council, London,UK and Director, National Herbarium and Bo-tanic Gardens, Zomba, Malawi), Ms Stella Simiyu(Chair, East African Plant Specialist Group, IUCNSpecies Survival Commission and NationalMuseums of Kenya, Nairobi) and Mr MarkRichardson (Alice Springs Desert Park, Australia).

The Ninth SABONET Steering Committee (SSC)meeting was held at the National Botanic Gardenin Meise, Belgium, on 27 August 2000. The meet-ing was held in Belgium to coincide with the 16thAETFAT Congress held at the same venue from 28August to 2 September 2000. All ten participatingcountries were represented at the meeting. DrAlan Rodgers of UNDP/GEF, Arusha, Tanzaniaand Mr Thulani Mabaso of UNDP-South Africaalso attended.

Issues discussed at the meeting included post-graduate support for 2001, computerisation,publications, staff dedicated to SABONET activi-ties in participating herbaria, training and theplanned SABONET Mid-Term Review. Thisexternal review is scheduled to take place in theregion during the first quarter of 2001, and will bereported on in the April 2001 edition ofSABONET News.

SABONET’s Second TriPartite Review (TPR)

Meeting, chaired by Dr Alan Rodgers, was heldon the same day, using the Annual Programme/Project Report as a basis for discussion.

The following recommendations were made bythe TPR meeting:

• To continue linking the log frame to thebudget, reassessing the availability of funds in2000–2001, and prioritising the future use ofavailable funds.

• To give priority to information technologyissues, and for this aspect of the project to bespeeded up.

• To mobilise the botanical gardens aspect of theproject.

• To fast-track outputs from participating her-baria in the region (such as national plantchecklists, computerisation of selected plantgroups/taxa, plant distribution maps linked toother data sets using GIS). ❏

This is what the review group had to say aboutthe SABONET Project:

Summary of major conclusions

The SABONET Project has been a key contribu-tion to building the capacity for managing, utilis-ing and ensuring the conservation of plant diver-sity in southern Africa. The National BotanicalInstitute has taken a leadership role in this initia-tive and it is important that this crucial vehiclefor communication, cooperation and coordinationis maintained beyond the life of the current

Extracts from NBI’s External ReviewSeptember/October 2000


Botanical Institute. This project has built on theprevious excellent work done by the NationalBotanical Institute on threatened plants. Theapproach and implementation has been welldesigned. In order to enhance the delivery of theoutputs of this project, it is important from anNBI perspective that active linkages are main-tained between the Red Data Listing Project, thePRECIS database, the Conservation and EcologyProgramme and the Herbarium. These linkagesshould in turn be consolidated to develop aneffective conservation policy for the NBI gardensand guidelines for integrated species conservationprojects with relevant parties and stakeholders.

The robust training experience, the developmentof modern research facilities and implementationof innovative and adaptive research programmes,make NBI a centre of excellence in Africa. NBItherefore is strategically placed to meet some ofAfrica’s training and capacity building needs.Avenues to enhance this need to be explored,especially post-SABONET.

The SABONET Project has achieved tremendoussuccess in contributing to building botanicalresearch infrastructure and capacity in southernAfrica. The improved ability within the region isan asset to the National Botanical Institute, whichis a regional centre of excellence. It will thereforebe strategic to pursue options that keep thenetwork going post-GEF funding.

SABONET has effectively publicised its activitiesthrough its newsletters and reports. There is needto maintain this communication in an acceptableand affordable format to maintain the profile ofthe project. ❏

funding of this project. SABONET will continueto evolve but it is one of the National BotanicalInstitute’s most significant and enduring contri-butions to the African Renaissance.

Response to the report of the 1995 ExternalReview Group

The implementation of the SABONET Project hasalso been a key achievement in the period sincethe last review.

Implementation of the 1996–2000 CorporateStrategic Plan

“To contribute significantly to preventing theextinction of southern Africa’s plant species, andto maintain the diversity of species, ecosystemsand ecosystem processes.”

The SABONET Project has enhanced further theNational Botanical Institute’s contribution to thisgoal, becoming a model both regionally andinternationally. Further linkages between theConservation and Ecology Subdirectorate of theNBI, the Red Data List and the ethnobotanicaldatabase will improve the National BotanicalInstitute’s contribution to meeting this goal. Thisfocus should continue.

Relevance of programmes and activities in thenew South Africa

Forging of regional collaboration in southernAfrica to promote capacity building (i.e.SABONET), has improved human resources andinfrastructure development for SABONET coun-tries.

Research and scientific servicesThe Red Data Listing programme implementedthrough SABONET is a welcome initiative thathas resulted from the leadership of the National

“The challenge for conservation biology is to shift our focus—both in terms of the areasand problems that we work on, and the ways we interact with landowners and localcommunities—so we can successfully conserve indigenous biodiversity on the unpro-tected lands that dominate the world’s land surface.”

Norton, D.A. in Conservation Biology 14(5): 1222. (2000)


An African Workshop on the Global Taxonomy Initiativeby Gideon F. Smith

A three-day Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI)Workshop for Africa will be held under theauspices of the Convention on Biological Diver-sity from 27 February 2001 to 1 March 2001. TheWorkshop will be hosted jointly by the NationalBotanical Institute of South Africa and the Na-tional Herbarium and Botanic Gardens of Malawi,and will take place at the Kirstenbosch NationalBotanical Garden, Claremont, Cape Town. A four-day field trip, arranged by Gariep Travel, willfollow directly after the Workshop. The Workshopand field trip is being made possible with fundsfrom the Swedish International DevelopmentCooperation Agency (SIDA).

The major objectives of the Workshop will be to:

• Enable African countries and collaboratinginstitutions to gain clarity on the principles,role and mechanisms of the GTI.

• Establish a comprehensive strategy andachievable workplan according to whichfunding for building capacity in taxonomicresearch in Africa can be obtained from theGTI.

• Urge governments to support the completionof regional, subregional or national taxonomicneeds assessments, and initiate the compila-tion of new taxonomic needs assessmentswhere these do not exist.

“The taxonomic community globally sees an urgent need for capacity-building and infrastructurerenewal if taxonomy is to keep up with the demand for up-to-date information on species. TheConvention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has recognized this taxonomic impediment and hasformulated the concept of a Global Taxonomic Initiative (GTI) to promote a concerted effort betweeninternational funding agencies, national and sub-national governments, and non-government bod-ies. The COP and SBSTTA have been quite clear that the role of the GTI is to help implement theConvention.”

Cresswell & Bridgewater (2000: 12)

Cresswell, I.D. & Bridgewater, P. 2000. The Global Taxonomy Initiative—Quo vadis?Biology International 38: 12-16.

• Formulate specific national, subregional orregional projects aimed at meeting the mosturgent taxonomic needs.

• Produce a Final Report that can act as a guideto achieve these objectives.

Over the next few months invitations to attendthe Workshop will be sent to a broad spectrum ofAfrican systematic biologists (fauna, micro-organisms, flora, etc.) and other stakeholders. TheWorkshop will consist of plenary and break-awaysessions, allowing ample opportunity for discus-sion, airing of views and the compilation of aworkshop document.

For further information you could contact eitherProf. Gideon F. Smith, Director: Research of theNational Botanical Institute of South Africa([email protected]; fax no. (27) 12 804 5343) orDr Augustine C. Chikuni, Director: NationalHerbarium and Botanic Gardens of Malawi([email protected]; (265) 524 108 or 164). o

Gideon F. SmithOffice of the Research Director, National BotanicalInstitutePrivate Bag X101Pretoria, 0001, South Africa


DelegatesThis well-organised and informative conferencewas attended by about 100 delegates from almost25 countries. Most delegates represented theNetherlands and the USA; Brazil, France, Indiaand Russia were also represented by severaldelegates. I was the only representative fromSouth Africa. Other African countries with one ormore delegates were Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana,Kenya, Sudan and Uganda. Forty talks and 25posters were presented; abstracts of all of thesewere printed in the abstract book that delegatesreceived with registration. An interesting featureof this congress was the separate category of“Abstracts only” which also appeared in theabstract book. This chapter consisted of 50 sum-maries of work completed/in progress by re-searchers who could not attend the conference,mainly from Armenia, India, Russia and theUkraine. Notable delegates to this conferencewere some of the famous names in the study ofthe Solanaceae, scientists who had been involvedwith these conferences since the first one in 1976,namely Dr. Jack G. Hawkes (Birmingham Univer-sity, UK), Dr. Armando T. Hunziker (Cordoba,Argentina), Dr. Charles B. Heiser (Indiana Uni-versity, USA) and Dr. Richard N. Lester (Birming-ham University, UK).

SubjectsLooking at the total number and range of topicsof the oral presentations, posters and abstracts, itbecomes clear that the most popular subjects atthis congress were the economically importantspecies of the Solanaceae. These were Capsicum(chillies, paprika and sweet peppers), Lycopersicon(tomatoes and related species), Nicotiana (tobaccoand related species), Solanum melongena (auber-gine, brinjals or egg-plant), and S. tuberosum(potato). Other species of Solanum with potentialeconomic importance that were discussed, are the

BackgroundMany species of the economically significantfamily Solanaceae provide important sources offood, medicine, ornamental crops and drugs;several species have also served well in pioneer-ing biotechnology, genetic engineering andanalysis, and in molecular research on plantbreeding and reproduction. This type of researchis beginning to unravel the genetic resources ofboth cultigens and wild relatives of many solana-ceous crops. Molecular techniques for introducingspecific genes into existing crops, with regard todisease resistance, for instance, has lead to re-newed interest in their wild relatives as well asother wild species. Local uses of Solanaceae, alsoin Africa, encompass a very large range of speciesand open up a whole new area of research chal-lenges.

IntroductionThe Executive Committee of the National Botani-cal Institute was kind enough to enable me toattend the Vth International Solanaceae Confer-ence held at the Catholic University of Nijmegenin the Netherlands from 23–28 July 2000 and topresent a poster as part of my registered project:“The genus Solanum (Solanaceae) in southernAfrica”. The conference organising committeeconsisted of Dr. G. Barendse, Ms T. Mariani andDr. G. van der Weerden, all from the BotanicalGarden, University of Nijmegen and Dr. R. vanden Berg of the Department of Plant Taxonomy,Wageningen University. The previous Interna-tional Solanaceae Conferences were in 1976(Birmingham, UK), 1982 (St. Louis, Missouri,USA), 1988 (Bogotá, Colombia), and 1994 (Ad-elaide, Australia). The next conference, to beorganised by Dr. D. Spooner, will probably beheld in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, in July 2005.The Proceedings of each conference were subse-quently published as books.

THE VTH INTERNATIONAL SOLANACEAE CONFERENCE

23–28 JULY 2000

by W.G. Welman

THE VTH INTERNATIONAL SOLANACEAE CONFERENCE


New World S. quitoense (naranjilla) andS. muricatum (pepino), the almost cosmopolitanS. nigrum complex (black nightshades) and thetropical African S. aethiopicum including S. gilo(garden-egg or scarlet egg-plant) andS. macrocarpon (Gboma egg-plant). The natural orwild species discussed, were mostly from theNew World and/or related to the above economi-cally important species. It became obvious that,because S. melongena originated from Old Worldancestors, several natural species in the subgenusLeptostemonum, especially sections Oliganthes andMelongena, from southern and tropical Africa canbe crossed with it to improve resistance to variouskinds of diseases, parasites and also climaticfactors.

D’Arcy commemorative lectureThe first plenary talk was the W.G. D’Arcy com-memorative lecture presented by Dr. Mike Nee(New York Botanical Garden), entitled “Where dowe go from here in Solanaceae taxonomy?” Thelate Dr. William (Bill) D’Arcy published exten-sively on the systematics of the family; he wasparticularly knowledgeable about the Solanaceaeof the New World. He organised the secondSolanaceae conference held in 1982 at the Mis-souri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, where he wasemployed during his entire professional career.Dr. Nee emphasised that some groups, notablythe economically important taxa, have been andcontinue to be thoroughly investigated withtraditional and modern methods, while othergroups, such as the large New World genusCestrum, are still without any sort of modernsystematic treatment. Solanum, comprising abouthalf the species of the family, desperately needs aworld-wide infrageneric classification, while mostof the sections and subgenera require additionalstudies of various kinds.

Interesting topicsA number of talks delivered, posters presentedand abstracts submitted, were significant from anAfrican or southern African perspective:

Dr. Lyn Bohs (University of Utah, USA) in a talkentitled “Major clades in Solanum: molecular dataand morphological synapomorphies”, proposedsome major changes to the subgenera and sec-

tions of Solanum. The African non-spiny taxarepresented by S. guineense L. (=S. aggregatumJacq.), so far the only representative of subgenusLyciosolanum Bitter, should be joined by twospecies of subgenus Solanum L. namelyS. africanum Mill. (=S. quadrangulare Thunb. exL.f.) from section Quadrangulare Bitter andS. terminale Forssk. from section AfrosolanumBitter. She also regards the tomato, Lycopersiconesculentum, on DNA grounds, as a species ofSolanum, a view not shared by all Solanaceaeworkers.

K.O. Bonsu and colleagues (Crops ResearchInstitute, Kumasi, Ghana), discussedS. macrocarpon in “Gboma egg-plant, a potentialnew export crop for Ghana”. This species, indig-enous to West Africa, shows considerable varia-tion in plant height (± 25–75 cm), stem colours(purple and green), days from sowing to firstflower (56–84 days), fruit shape (heart-shaped,through round to flattened), fruit size and weight(up to 80 mm, 133–500 grams), fruit colour inunripe fruits (white to dark green, sometimesshaded purple), fruit colour in ripe fruits (mostlyyellow, also brown). Both the leaves and the fruitare eaten; some plants are more “fruity” andothers more “leafy”.

Marie-Christine Daunay (INRA, Montfavet,France) and co-workers delivered “Genetic re-sources of egg-plant (Solanum melongena L.) andallied species: a new challenge for moleculargeneticists and egg-plant breeders”. S. melongena[section Melongena Dunal of subgenusLeptostemonum (Dunal) Bitter] was domesticatedin the Indo-Chinese region in ancient times and isnow the seventh most important vegetable in theworld; it is very popular in Mediterranean andEastern countries. Egg-plant is not resistant tomany pests and diseases, but its resistance can beimproved through genetic engineering with genesfrom other Solanaceae. African species such asS. richardii, S. linnaeanum, S. tomentosum, S.catombelense, S. burchellii and S. supinum havealready been crossed with S. melongena.

K.J. Dehmer (IPK, Gatersleben, Germany) spokeon “Conclusions on the taxonomy of the Solanumnigrum complex by molecular analyses of IPK


germplasm accessions”. The various species ofblack nightshades are cosmopolitan in theirdistribution, very variable in morphology and,Dehmer says, is believed to have no clearlydefined interspecific boundaries. He was, how-ever, able to differentiate species on a molecularlevel. It was also found that S. nigrum sens. lat. isa potential source of resistance in potato breedingfor potato or tobacco mosaic virus.

T. Doroszewska (Pulawy, Poland) spoke on the“Germplasm collection of the genus Nicotiana inPoland”, and found, inter alia, that N. africana, theNamibian endemic belonging to Nicotiana sectionSuaveolentes, is resistant to potato virus Y.

I.M. El Tahir (Agricultural Research Corporation,Wad Medani, Sudan) delivered “Variability inmorpho-agronomic traits of local hot peppergermplasm in the Sudan”. Hot pepper is animportant spice crop in the Sudan, and althoughintroduced, considerable variation can be ob-served in the local traditional cultivars of Capsi-cum chinense and C. frutescens.

M.V. Rajam and colleagues (University of Delhi,New Delhi, India) spoke on “Development ofRAPD markers for resistance to Verticillium dahliaein egg-plant, Solanum melongena L.” The egg-plant’s nutritional value equals that of the tomatoand it is an important vegetable crop of thetemperate and tropical parts of the world. Amongthe many pests and pathogens which attack it,V. dahliae is one of the serious pathogens causingroot wilt. The tropical African S. aethiopicum (bothGilo and Aculeatum groups) and the New World S.sisymbriifolium and S. torvum (both introduced toAfrica) are resistant to Verticillium wilt, and areused to develop resistant cultivars throughsomatic hybridisation.

R. Bukenya-Ziraba (Makerere University, Kam-pala, Uganda) spoke about “Variation withinSolanum incanum L. complex in Uganda and itsrelationship with S. cerasiferum Dunal”. Tremen-dous morphological variation was observed inthe S. incanum complex. This species has medici-nal and traditional uses in East Africa. Thisvariation could be used by plant breeders toimprove the related S. melongena L. Crossing

experiments showed that S. incanum is a singlespecies complex and that the north tropicalAfrican S. cerasiferum is very closely related.

M.A. Onyango, J.K. Imungi and J.K. Chweya(Nairobi University, Kenya) submitted an abstract“Evaluation of vegetable quality of four variantsof black nightshade, Solanum nigrum”. Blacknightshade is a popular vegetable in tropicalAfrica. Three groups of variants of the S. nigrumcomplex are eaten as vegetables in Kenya, namelyS. eldorettii, S. nigrum sens.str. andS. pseudonigrum. The crude protein, b-carotene,total ash, iron, calcium and fibre contents of theedible parts of the above taxa were evaluated. Theresults showed some significant differencesbetween the groups of variants.

Luping Qin and Hanchen Zheng (Second MilitaryMedical University, Shanghai, China) delivered apaper, “The medicinal plants of Solanaceae usedin traditional Chinese medicine.” More than 60species of Solanaceae are used in traditionalmedicine in China. The following New Worldtaxa introduced to both Africa and China, arelisted as medicinal plants: Datura innoxia, D.metel, D. stramonium, Nicandra physaloides, Physalisangulata, P. minima, Solanum mammosum, S.pseudocapsicum, S. torvum. In addition, S. nigrum,probably indigenous to both areas, is also usedmedicinally.

R.W. Robinson, Yanxin Gao and colleagues(Cornell University, New York, USA) delivered apaper “Interspecific hybridisation of egg-plant forVerticillium wilt resistance and other usefultraits.” It was found that some accessions ofSolanum incanum, depending on geographicalorigin, produced fertile interspecific hybrids withS. melongena that were resistant to Verticilliumwilt. Closely related wild species of Solanum haveother attributes that are useful for egg-plantbreeding, such as resistance to the Coloradopotato beetle and flea beetles. S. sisymbriifolium isresistant to Verticillium and has a remarkabledegree of cold tolerance–it produces berries in theNorth American winter.

A. Child and R.N. Lester from the UK presented aposter “Conspectus Solani: a survey of the genusSolanum L. (Solanaceae) and its infrageneric taxa”.


An attempt is made toprovide a comprehen-sive classification ofthe more than 1000species of the genus,based on the conven-tional wisdom ofclassical systematics,but awaiting the fullillumination of DNAphylogeny. Thisclassification includesCyphomandra,Lycopersicon andNormania in Solanumand treats all speciesin 89 taxa at sectionallevel, providing keysto these, and discuss-ing their morphologi-cal andphytogeographicalattributes.

A poster “Flora ofTropical East Africa–Solanaceae” by J.M.Edmonds (RoyalBotanic Gardens, Kewand University of Leeds, UK) was shown in herabsence. Ms Edmonds will prepare the taxonomictreatment of the Solanaceae for the Flora of Tropi-cal East Africa. This is important news for south-ern Africa, as several species are indigenous toboth areas. In Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania thefamily is represented by 17 genera and 100 spe-cies, many of them introduced. Solanum with over70 species, exhibits its usual taxonomic complex-ity and diversity.

L.A. Mentz and P.L. de Oliveira (Porto Alegre,Brazil) submitted an abstract “Trichome types inSolanum section Acanthophora and related spe-cies”. Trichomes from leaves of species of thissection such as S. aculeatissimum, S. capsicoides andS. viarum, also introductions to southern Africa,were analysed by scanning electron microscopy.Species of Acanthophora (except S. capsicoides)have stellate trichomes at the abaxial leaf surface

only, with two ormore lateral rays ofabout the samelength. Cuticleornamentation inAcanthophora isverrucose in wing-seeded species andwith interruptedhelicoidal striae inspecies with non-winged seeds.

A. Alighanadi, N.Tavakoli and O.Sadeghpour(Isfahan Universityof Medical Sciences,Iran) submitted anabstract “Quantita-tive analysis ofsolasodine inSolanum nigrum L.grown in Iran”. S.nigrum is widelydistributed in Iranand different partsof the plant havebeen used in Iranianfolk medicine for

various disorders. A quantitative analysis of thesolasodine content of aerial parts (stems) of theplant gave results that ranged from 7.66–26.90%(microgram per millilitre).

M. Diouf (Dakar, Senegal) submitted an abstract“Étude des mécanismes de tolérance du Jaxatu(Solanum aethiopicum) aux acariens(Tarsonemideae et Tetranychideae) et tentativesde transfert des caractères à des variétéssensibles”. In Senegal, Jaxatu (S. aethiopicum L.Kumba group) has become an important fruit andleaf vegetable. Unfortunately cultivation of Jaxatucan be difficult because of various pests andparasites of which mites are the most important.Some genotypes of Jaxatu are more tolerant tomites and these lines are used to improve the cropin hybridisation experiments. Hairs on stems andleaves provide an efficient barrier against the

▲ The declared weed, Solanum mauritianum Scop. (bug tree),introduced from South America. (With permission from theNational Botanical Institute, Pretoria. Artist: Cythna Letty.)


larger species of mites. Hybridisation with gla-brous tolerant genotypes of S. macrocarpon hasalso been attempted.

D.O. Ojo (National Horticultural Research Insti-tute, Ibadan, Nigeria) submitted an abstract“Clipping height and harvesting frequency on theproduction of Solanum macrocarpon in the humidtropics of sub-Saharan Africa”. Field experimentswere carried out to determine the best clippingheight and harvesting frequency for concurrentvegetable (leaf and stem) and seed yields ofS. macrocarpon. It is concluded that concurrentvegetable and seed production optimises resourceuse efficiency better and gives more economicreturns than growing S. macrocarpon only eitherfor vegetable or seed. Seed production givesbetter economic returns than vegetable produc-tion. This result indicates that clipping manage-ment might increase productivity of other similarvegetables and has potential for mechanisation ofthe vegetable harvest.

D.O. Ojo (National Horticultural Research Insti-tute, Ibadan, Nigeria) submitted an abstract“Influence of harvesting frequency on garden-egg(Solanum gilo) yield and vegetable value”. Despitethe importance of the garden-egg in traditionalfarming systems, its dietary qualities, its signifi-cance in diversifying and improving the foodbasket among urban and peri-urban gardenersand also Fadama growers, especially in the dryseason. Very little is known about improving theproductivity of this crop by harvesting tech-niques. Field experiments were carried out todetermine the best harvesting frequency forgarden-egg production.

W.G. Welman (National Herbarium, NationalBotanical Institute, Pretoria) presented a poster“Solanum (Solanaceae) in southern Africa: pre-view of section Oliganthes”. This poster summa-rised the present state of knowledge of Solanumsubgenus Leptostemonum section Oliganthes insouthern Africa. All 15 species including fourvarieties are indigenous; 11 of these taxa areendemic. Taxa of this section occur in all areasand climatic regions of southern Africa. Theseplants are usually small, more or less spinyshrubs (not drought-deciduous) with an

indumentum of simple to stellate hairs and leavesthat are entire to deeply lobed, mostly shorterthan 100 mm. The solitary to few flowers arehermaphrodite with stellate corollas and lanceo-late anthers with small terminal pores. The juicyfruits are red to orange with a thin pericarp andpale brown seeds. The poster showed colourphotographs of dried herbarium specimens,mostly fruiting, illustrating the morphology ofthese species and varieties. The distribution mapswere based on herbarium records in the NationalHerbarium (PRE); they showed that most taxaoccur in clearly defined areas. A preliminary keyto the 17 taxa, which was distributed to interestedpersons at the conference, gave more detailedinformation on their morphology and distribu-tion.

University of Nijmegen Botanical GardenThe conservation of the genetic resources of theSolanaceae is of the utmost importance. ThisBotanical Garden has brought together an impres-sive living collection of Solanaceae from all overthe world. Most of these are housed in six glasshouses; a few are grown out in the open. Thecollection of more than 1000 accessions, many ofwild origin, comprises 478 species and 45 gen-era—about 50% of the total number of genera andabout 20% of the total number of species in thefamily. Tuber-bearing members of the genusSolanum are excluded from the collection; they aredealt with by Plant Research International inWageningen, also the Agricultural University ofWageningen, not far from Nijmegen.

The following 21 species of Solanum that occur insouthern Africa were noted (introduced speciesare indicated with *): aculeastrum, aculeatissimum*,capsicoides*, giganteum, hispidum*, jasminoides*,kwebense, linnaeanum, mammosum*, mauritianum*,panduriforme, pseudocapsicum*, giftbergense,rostratum*, rubetorum, seaforthianum*,sisymbriifolium*, terminale, torvum*, viarum*.Species of Solanum from tropical Africa are alsogrown, notably S. aethiopicum and S. macrocarpon.

The collection is maintained with emphasis ontaxonomic verification and propagation for seedproduction of a wide range of genera and species.Seeds are stored in a seed bank to keep a perma-


nent gene resource of the Solanaceae. Data oneach accession as well as general information onthe family are kept in a computer based referencesystem. Herbarium specimens, seed samples ofeach accession and a collection of more than 3 000slides are kept for taxonomic reference.

The Department of Experimental Botany ofNijmegen University, associated with the Botani-cal Garden, carries out molecular research onreproduction in the Solanaceae, such as: generegulation in pollen development in Nicotianatabacum and Solanum tuberosum; the role of gib-berellin-regulated genes in premeiotic anther andpollen development in Lycopersicon esculentum;actin-binding proteins in pollen-pistil interactionand characterisation of pistil-specific proline-richproteins in N. tabacum, Datura and Petunia.

The Solanaceae collection of this Botanical Gardenwill soon be enlarged vastly with the addition ofmost of the germplasm collection of the Univer-sity of Birmingham, UK. Many African species arerepresented in this collection, such as S. anguivi,S. capense, S. tomentosum and various species ofthe S. nigrum complex.

Plant Research InternationalDuring the conference, delegates had the chanceto pay a visit to Plant Research International inWageningen. This institute does market-orien-tated research for its clients on various cropplants. Their fields of expertise are plant genetics,plant reproduction, crop physiology, agrosystems,soil fertility and the optimisation of plant healthand plant product quality. Their facilities are

among the most advanced in Europe and includegreenhouses, growth chambers, a modern genebank, up-to-date laboratories and effective datamanagement and communication systems. Del-egates were taken on a guided tour of theirresearch work on Solanaceae, particularly Sola-num tuberosum, Lycopersicon esculentum andCapsicum.

Art exhibitionA Solanaceae art exhibition was held in the foyerof the building where the conference was pre-sented. The British botanical painter, DoreenHamilton, showed some 30 paintings ofSolanaceae; these were for sale at NLG520–NLG1360 unframed, frames were NLG40 extra.(NLG1= ± R3,30). The subjects were mostly NewWorld members of the family. The followingspecies, which also occur in southern Africa ascultivated plants or weeds, were included: Daturastramonium, Nierembergia cv., Physalis peruviana,Solanum jasminoides, S. pseudocapsicum, S.rostratum and S. sisymbriifolium. In November1999 Ms Hamilton was awarded a silver medal atthe exhibition of the Royal Horticultural Society. ❏

W.G. (Mienkie) WelmanNational HerbariumNational Botanical InstitutePrivate Bag X1010001 PretoriaSOUTH AFRICATel.: (27) 12 8043200Fax: (27) 12 8043211E-mail: [email protected]


the Union’s programmes and activities. It isintended that the organisations link IUBS withindividual researchers and educators in thevarious biological disciplines. Institutions andindividual researchers are connected to IUBSthrough their membership to an internationalscientific committee, association or society.

The primary mandate of IUBS is to coordinateinternational programmes that promote the studyof biological sciences. Through its programmes,IUBS initiates and facilitates research activitiesthat promote information sharing and capacitybuilding, and in so doing supports internationalconferences and publications that result fromcooperative research. The Union’s Secretariat isheaded by an Executive Director and is responsi-ble for the coordination of its programmes andactivities. The present secretariat resides in Paris.

IUBS is governed by an Executive Committeewhich is elected by the General Assembly for athree-year period. The Executive Committee iscomposed of six officers (President, Past-Presi-dent, two Vice-Presidents, Secretary General andTreasurer) and fourteen members representing

Since 1919, IUBS has been facilitating the ad-vancement of biology, and yet today, it is still asomewhat distant acronym to many biologists—IUBS stands for the International Union of Bio-logical Sciences. Last month, I had the invaluableopportunity of attending the 27th General Assem-bly of IUBS as a young scientist and was fundedby the National Research Foundation (NRF). TheAssembly was held in Naples, Italy, from 8–12November and was linked to a symposium onBiological Sciences: Challenges for the XXI Century.In this article, I provide some background to IUBSand its scientific programmes.

IUBS is one of 25 international scientific unionsaffiliated to the International Council of ScienceUnions (ICSU). It is an NGO and serves as anumbrella body for a number of scientific organisa-tions. National academies or national researchcouncils, for example, the National ResearchFoundation in South Africa, can sign up as Ordi-nary Members of IUBS. International scientificcommittees, associations and societies, for exam-ple, the International Organisation for SucculentPlants (IOS), make up the Scientific Members ofIUBS. These organisations have direct access to

IUBS—advancing biology in the 21st Centuryby Yashica Singh

▲ Members of the Executive Committee of IUBS for the period 2000–2003at a meeting during the 27th General Assembly in Naples in November 2000.(Photo: Yashica Singh)

IUBS


different countries and diverse biological disci-plines. IUBS holds a General Assembly everythree years and this serves to develop, maintainand strengthen liaison between the Union and itsOrdinary and Scientific members. The Union alsocommunicates with members through the IUBSnews magazine, Biology International.

Current IUBS programmes include

• Towards an Integrative Biology (TAIB)

• DIVERSITAS

• Reproductive Biology and Aquaculture (RBA)

• Bionomenclature and Taxonomy

• Biological Education and Bioethics

IUBS projects of direct relevance to herbariumscientists are Systematics Agenda 2K-I and theGlobal Taxonomic Initiative (GTI). These areinitiatives within the DIVERSITAS Programme.The scientific and technical aspects for imple-menting the GTI are being addressed at variousworkshops. In the previous issue of SABONETNews, the article Feedback from the Conference ofParties 5 outlines the decisions taken regardingthe GTI at the CoP meeting.

The recent IUBS publication Implementing the GTI:recommendations from DIVERSITAS core programmeelement 3, including the assessment of present knowl-edge of key species covers the state of our knowl-edge of species diversity. It gives the global andcontinental numbers of known species for themajor groups of organisms. In comparing speciesnumbers, it identifies regional and taxonomicgaps and suggests criteria for filling the gaps byway of the GTI. Various IUBS activities to createawareness and to kindle participation in the GTIare being planned for the next triennium and wecan look forward to one such activity in SouthAfrica in 2001.

Maintaining biotic diversity poses a constantchallenge to scientists. It calls for foresight andspontaneity in research design and approach anddemands novel ideas. IUBS is a dynamic organi-sation offering countries a forum to developinnovative research programmes that involveinternational cooperation. Through national andcontinental participation in IUBS activities we asbotanists are able to influence the shaping ofresearch in biology in the 21st Century.

For details on IUBS and its scientific programmes,visit the web site http://www.iubs.org. ❏

Yashica SinghNational Botanical InstituteNatal HerbariumBotanic Gardens RoadDurban4001SOUTH AFRICAE-mail: [email protected]

▲ Motonori Hoshi (Vice-president of IUBS), HimansuBaijnath (Chairman of the South African NationalCommittee of IUBS and member of the IUBS ExecutiveCommittee) and Talal Younès (Executive Director of IUBS),inspired by the week’s deliberations at the General Assemblyin Naples. (Photo: Yashica Singh)


listadas nas seguintes publicações: “1997 IUCNRed Data List of Threatened Plants”, 1998 e no“The World Threatened Trees”, 1998. Contudo asmesmas foram categorizadas com base nos anti-gos critérios e categorias da UICN nas duasprimeiras publicações. “The World ThreatenedTrees”, 1998 listou 78 espécies, das quais 50%tidas como nativas de Moçambique possuemdados insuficientes que não permitem a suainclusão nas diferentes categorias.

O Complexo da Barragem dos PequenosLibombos localizado no distrito de Boane a 30 kmda cidade de Maputo acolheu de 23 a 27 deOutubro de 2000 o workshop sobre plantasameaçadas ou potencialmente ameaçadas deMoçambique, ou seja “Workshop sobre Red DataList em Moçambique”.

O objectivo do workshop foi de inventariar, re-avaliar e categorizar com base nas categorias daUICN (1994) as espécies ameaçadas ou potencial-mente ameaçadas de extinção em Moçambique.

(A summary in English follows the Portuguese.)

Moçambique possui uma área total de 784 755km2 dos quais apenas 2 676 km2 são reservasflorestais. Tendo cerca de 5 500 espécies de plan-tas superiores, acredita-se que algumas dessasespécies estejam sobre pressão por várias razões.

A guerra civil que assolou o País, provocou umgrande exôdo rural, facilitando uma exploraçãodesenfreada dos recursos vegetais principalmentena periferia das cidades. Com estabelicimento dapaz, Moçambique tem sido um polo de atracçãode projectos de desenvolvimento que têm provo-cado o desmatamento de grandes áreas o que levaa perda de espécies vegetais.

Outras causas de perda de espécies, são asprácticas tradicionais de agricultura, os assenta-mentos, etc. Pensa-se que as recentes cheiasocorridas no País, possam ter resultado na perdanatural de algumas espécies de plantas. Algumasespécies ameaçadas de Moçambique foram

Red Data List em Moçambique—um Caminho para a ConservaçãoPor: Samira Izidine, Angelina Martins e Filomena Barbosa

� Representatives from various government, academic and NGO institutions joinedthe workshop participants for an informal discussion on the value of Red Data Lists.(Photo: J.S. Golding)

164 SABONET News Vol. 5 No. 3 December 2000

Uma listagem preliminar das referidas espéciesfoi elaborada pelo Grupo Nacional de Trabalhopara o “Red Data List” tendo sido usada comodocumento base durante o workshop.

O Grupo Nacional de Trabalho foi criado a 19 deJunho de 2000, e é constituido pelas seguintesinstituições:

• Departamento de Botânica (INIA)—Coordenação

• Departamento de Ciências Biológicas (UEM)• Unidade de Inventário Florestal (DNFFB)• Centro de Experimentação Florestal (DNFFB)• Direcção Nacional de Florestas e Fauna Bravia

(DNFFB)• União Mundial para Conservação da Natureza

(UICN)• Ministério para Coordenação da Acção

Ambiental (MICOA)• Grupo de Estudos de Medicina Tradicional

(INS)• Impacto, Projectos e Estudos Ambientais

As instituições participantes do Grupo Nacionalde Trabalho realizaram as seguintes actividades:

• Realização da primeira reunião do Grupo Nacio-nal de Trabalho

• Elaboração do plano de trabalho• Sintetização de toda a informação sobre plantas

ameaçadas ou potencialmente ameaçadas deextinção (raras, endémicas e sobre exploradas).

• Produção de uma lista preliminar de plantasameaçadas de extinção, priorizando as espéciesendémicas, medicinais e madeireiras com basenas seguintes listas: Bandeira et all (1994, 1996),VanWyk (1994) e Hatton & Munguambe (1998).

O workshop contou com os seguintes participan-tes: Dra Janice Golding (SABONET, NBI), DrPeter Philipson (Universidade de Rhodes), draSamira Izidine (INIA, SABONET-Moçambique),Dr Salomão Bandeira (UEM) dra Filomena Barbo-sa (UEM), dra Ana Bela Amude (UEM,SABONET-Moçambique), dra Angelina Martins(UEM), Engª Carla Ruas (DNFFB), Engª MartaMonjane (UIF), dr Silva Mulhovo (GEMT/INS),dra Köeti Seródio (UICN-Moçambique), Dr PaulDutton (Consultor independente).

A lista preliminar produzida contem 238 espéciespertencentes a 63 famílias de Angiospérmicas, 5

espécies pertencentes a 4 famílias deGymnospérmicas e 1 espécie de uma família dePteridófitas.

Foram adiccionados a lista preliminar mais dadoscom base em informação da Flora Zambeziaca,Flora de Moçambique, “The World List ofThreatened Trees”, 1998 e de alguns artigoscientíficos e mapas de vegetação. De realçar quepara complementar a informação sobre distribui-ção foram consultados espécimens do herbárioLMA.

Durante o workshop foram inventariadas e re-avaliadas cerca de 346 espécies das quais 144(42%) endémicas de Moçambique.

A categorização foi feita tendo em conta o se-guinte:

(a) Planta endémica no País(b) Distribuição restricta a pequenas áreas(c) Usos (Madeireira, Medicinal, Ornamental,

etc.)(d) Pressão sobre a espécie

Algumas espécies com antigas categorizaçõesforam re-avaliadas e categorizadas atravês dosnovos critérios e categorias da UICN, por exem-plo:

• Ozoroa reticulata (Bak.f) R. & A. Fernandes var.mossambicensis R. & A. Fernandes(Anacardiaceae), endémica de R para LRnt

• Xylopia torrei N.Robson (Annonaceae),endémica de R para Lrnt

• Elaeodendron fruticosum N.Robson(Celastraceae), endémica de Vu paraVUB1B2Cd2

• Sarcocomia mossambicensis Brenan(Chenopodiaceae), endémica de E para ENB1B2c

• Crassula maputensis R. Fernandes(Crassulaceae), endémica de Vu para ENB1B2c

• Icuria dunensis (Fabaceae), endémica comoENA2c

• Centella obtriangularis Cannon (Apiaceae),endémica de Chimanimani como VUD2

• Cycas thoursii, como


• Encephalartos aplanatus como ENA1acdB2abcde• E. chimanimaniensis como ENC2a• E. ferox como LRnt• E. gratus, endémica, como LRnt• E. lebomboensis como CRA1acdB1B2abcde• E. manikensis como LRnt• E. munchii, endémica, como ExW?• E. ngoyanus como CRB1B2abcde• E. pterogonus, endémica, como VUD2• E. senticosus como CRB1B2ae• E. turneri, endémica, como LRlc• E. umbeluziensis como CRA1acd/

A2cB1B2abcde• Stangeria eriopus como VUC2bD1D2

No dia 25 de Outubro de 2000 realizou-se umencontro mais abrangente com técnicos ligados aárea de conservação e outros parceiros para aapresentação dos resultados e discussão sobre asacções futuras a preconizar.

A abertura da sessão foi feita pelo Dr AntonioMuacorica, Director Geral Adjunto do InstitutoNacional de Investigação Agronómica (INIA), quedurante a sua alocução referiu-se a importânciados recursos naturais em particular das plantas eda necessidade da sua conservação.

Como conclusão do workshop verificou-se quemuito a ainda a fazer a nível do Red Data List emMoçambique como seja: Inventários das espéciesem campo, procura de mais informação sobre asespécies (Herbário, monografias, consultas alocais etc.)

O Grupo Nacional de Trabalho propõem asseguintes acções futuras a preconizar:

(a) A elaboração de um plano nacional parainventariação e recolha de dados quantitati-vos das espécies em risco.

(b) Promover uma maior colaboração entre asinstituições envolvidas na conservaçãoambiental

(c) A criação de uma base de dados sobre oestado de conservação das espécies

(d) A criação de grupos multidisciplinares paraáreas consideradas estratégicas

(e) Promover a propagação de espécies in-situ eex-situ

(f) A divulgação dos novos critérios e categoriasda UICN a todos os níveis (Nacional, Provin-cial e Local)

(g) A consciencialização do público em geralpara conservação das plantas em risco (Pro-gramas de TV, Rádio, Publicação de cartazesem dias comemorativos nas escolas, locais detrabalho, etc.)

Contudo todas as acções estão dependentes defuturos financiamentos que poderão facilitar arealização das actividades a nível do programaRed Data List.

Assim foi recomendação do workshop a continua-ção do trabalho de consulta para melhorar eactualizar a lista existente para a produção doRed Data List para Moçambique. Afinal o RedData List é um caminho para a conservação.

Referências bibliográficas

Hatton, J. & F. Munguambe 1998. The biologicaldiversity of Mozambique. MICOA 27 pp.

Oldfield, S., Lusty, C. & MacKinven, A. (1998)The World List of Threatened Tree.World Conserva-tion Press, Cambridge, UK . 650 pp.

Walter, S.K. & Gillett, H.J. (eds) 1998. 1997 IUCNRed List of Threatened Plants. Compiled by theWorld Conservation Monitoring Centre. IUCN -The World Conservation Union, Gland (Switzer-land) and Cambridge (United Kingdom). lxiv +862 pp. ❏

Samira IzidineE-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

Angelina MartinsE-mail: [email protected]

Filomena BarbosaE-mail: [email protected]


Red Data List in Mozambique:a Way to Conservationby Samira Izidine, Angelina Martins & Filomena Barbosa

Mozambique covers a total area of 784 755 km2, ofwhich an area of a mere 2 676 km2 is under conserva-tion. Considering that Mozambique contains ca 5 500species of vascular plants, it is likely that some of theseare under threat for several reasons. These includerecent flooding, over-exploitation and changing landuse, as a result of development and traditional agricul-tural practices.

The World List of Threatened Trees listed 78 tree species.From 23 to 27 October 2000 a Plant Red Data ListingWorkshop was held in the Boane District, Mozam-bique. The objective of the workshop was to compilean inventory, re-assess and categorise the threatened orpotentially threatened species of Mozambique in termsof the new IUCN Red Data categories.

A National Working Group, established on 19 June2000, consists of the following institutions:

• Botany Department (INIA)(Coordinator)• Department of Biological Sciences (UEM)• Several sectors of the National Directorate of

Forestry and Wildlife (DNFFB)• IUCN-Mozambique• Ministry for the Coordination of Environment

Affairs (MICOA)• Study Group of Traditional Medicine (INS)

This group developed the preliminary baseline specieslist for the workshop. The preliminary list producedfor the workshop contained 238 species belonging to 63angiosperm families, five species belonging to fourfamilies of gymnosperms and one pteridophyte taxon.

During the workshop, additional information wasadded to the preliminary list of taxa from Florazambesiaca, Flora de Moçambique, Flora of Tropical EastAfrica and other publications, maps and data fromspecimens within the INIA Herbarium (LMA).

At the workshop, 346 species were assessed. Of these,144 (42%) are near-endemic (occurring in one or twocountries and having a narrow distribution range) orstrict endemics to Mozambique. Other species includedmedicinal plants, over-utilised plants and several treespecies used for commercial timber. Recategorisationaccording to the IUCN categories and criteria (1994)has resulted in the change of the status of some of theplant taxa.

The cycads of Mozambique are part of a larger body ofwork covering the southern African region. The study

was undertaken by SABONET in collaboration with P.J.Hurter (Lowveld National Botanical Garden,Nelspruit, South Africa) and a number of others.Assessments of Mozambique’s 14 cycads were pre-pared and are available from the authors, on request.

Further research needs regarding the Plant Red DataList for Mozambique were identified at the nationalworkshop. The list emanating from the workshop wasdiscussed with a broader stakeholder group in Maputoon 25 October 2000.

The National Working Group has proposed thefollowing actions:

• Develop a national plan for collecting quantitativedata on species at risk.

• Promote greater collaboration between institutionsinvolved in environmental conservation.

• Create a database about the conservation status ofthe species.

• Establish multidisciplinary groups for strategicallyimportant areas.

• Promote the propagation of species, both ex situ andin situ.

• Publicise the new IUCN criteria and categories atall levels (national, provincial and local).

• Raise public awareness of threatened plants.

Implementation of these activities is largely dependenton the availability of future funding.

One of the final recommendations of the workshopwas to strive towards improving and finalising theexisting list, in order to produce the Plant Red DataList for Mozambique. After all, the Plant Red Data Listis a means towards the conservation of Mozambique’sthreatened flora.

Bibliography

Hatton, J. & F. Munguambe 1998. The biological diver-sity of Mozambique. MICOA 27 pp.

Oldfield, S., Lusty, C. & MacKinven, A. (1998) TheWorld List of Threatened Tree.World Conservation Press,Cambridge, UK . 650 pp.

Walter, S.K. & Gillett, H.J. (eds) 1998. 1997 IUCN RedList of Threatened Plants. Compiled by the WorldConservation Monitoring Centre. IUCN - The WorldConservation Union, Gland (Switzerland) and Cam-bridge (United Kingdom). lxiv + 862 pp. ❏

Translated from the Portuguese by Carla Willis.


additional information where it was available. Intotal, we assessed 198 species, 41 (21%) of whichwere threatened or in the Lower Risk categories.The remainder were either Not Threatened or DataDeficient. It is noteworthy that these figures aresimilar to those in Hilton-Taylor (1996), implyingthat the information required to revise speciesassessed as Data Deficient, primarily through fieldwork, has not been acquired since then. As a firststep, we are currently using herbarium specimeninformation from the PRECIS database to furtherhelp identify localities.

The participants left the workshop with positivefeelings and a sense of gratitude for JaniceGolding’s efforts in the coordination and organi-sation of the workshop. As a way forward, copiesof the list as it now stands have been distributedto the participants for further assessment andcomments during their day-to-day work. Afollow-up workshop needs to be scheduled forthe near future. This effort will provide usefulmaterial when the schedules of protected flora areappended to the Flora Protection Bill, No.10,2000, in the near future. The bill has beengazetted by the Swaziland Government and isnow being debated in parliament. ❏

Titus DlaminiSwaziland National HerbariumMalkearns Research StationP O Box 4MalkearnsSWAZILANDE-mail: [email protected] DobsonE-mail: [email protected]

The Swaziland Red Data List (RDL) Workshopwas held at the Happy Valley Motel ConferenceRoom on 15 September 2000. The venue initiallybooked was the nearby Mantenga Lodge, but hadto be switched at the eleventh hour due to unfore-seen circumstances. Most participants respondedpositively and the workshop turned out to be agreat success.

The workshop was a very significant occasionsince this was the first meeting of its kind inSwaziland. It presented an opportunity to thecountry’s botanists and conservationists to beintroduced to the SABONET RDL. The partici-pants took to the task with unanticipated enthusi-asm and spent the whole day working throughthe country’s RDL. James Culverwell and PetaMasson, who have valuable experience on theSwazi Flora, but are now based outsideSwaziland, even travelled all the way fromMaputo (Mozambique) and Nelspruit (SouthAfrica), respectively, in order to make the day asuccess.

There were 14 participants in the workshop andthe day’s main activity was re-assessing the 198species included in the RDL for Swaziland. Astime was a limiting factor, we initially planned tosplit the list into three and form three groupsaround Kim Roques, Peta Masson and LindaDobson. However, when the modus operandi wasdiscussed at the beginning, the group unani-mously decided that we all go through the entirelist.

Using the new IUCN categories (1994), we sys-tematically re-assessed the species one by one,making changes where necessary and providing

Spotlight on Swaziland: Red Data Listby Titus Dlamini and Linda Dobson

� A subset of the participants at the Swaziland Red Data List Workshop. Starting at the back, from left to right: B.Dlamini, J. Culverwell, R. Boycott, T. Dlamini, L. Dobson, P. Masson, N. Dlamini, K. Roques. (Photo: J.S. Golding)


The Zimbabwe Red Data List working sessionwas held at the National Herbarium & BotanicGarden from 16–20 October 2000. The teamconsisted of Mr. W. Fibeck, Ms. V. Phiri, Mr. M.Kimberley, Mr. Mushongahande, Mr. T. Müller,Mr. J. Timberlake, Mr. R.B. Drummond, Ms M.Coates-Palgrave, Ms. S. Childes, Dr. F. Robertson,Mr A. Maroyi, Mr. C. Mujaju, Mr. C. Chapano, Mr.A. Mapaura and Ms. J. Golding.

The assessments concentrated on a pre-drawn listof species but new species were also addedduring the working session. Species which tookpriority were country endemics (mainly fromChimanimani and Great Dyke), species withnarrow distribution ranges occuring in one or twoother countries, utilised plant species, orchids,succulents and forest species. The working ses-sion relied heavily on the field knowledge of themore experienced participants for relevant bo-tanical data. Literature and herbarium specimensaugmented the field knowledge especially withregards to distributions and taxonomy. In order tobe consistent in the application of criteria, specificstandards and approaches were adopted.

Red Data List:The Zimbabwe Workshopby Anthony Mapaura

� The participants at the Zimbabwe Red Data List Workshop. (Photo: J.S. Golding)

For example, for the Chimanimanis, the followingwere adopted:

➢ Chimanimani quartzite is taken to cover an areaof about 100 km2 in Zimbabwe.

➢ Endemics at the highest altitudes have an Extentof Occurrence of about 10 km2.

➢ Plants with more than 2 500 mature individualsare considered to be widespread on theChimanimanis.

➢ The autecology of many Chimanimani speciesare adapted to fires.

➢ Chimanimani is a National Park and is wellprotected. There is no marked evidence ofpopulation reduction or habitat loss for manyspecies.

➢ The only species that could possibly face risk ofthreat are the very showy ones (orchids,succulents, etc.) at lower, more accessible alti-tudes.

➢ There are few instances of threats from invasiveplants (pines, wattles, etc.) in the Chimanimanis.

➢ Forest outliers on the lowlands are not protectedand are under great threat as people requireagricultural land.


For the Great Dyke, the following were adopted:

➢ Serpentine soils (the centre of endemism)cover an area of about 2000 km2.

➢ The dyke is not protected and faces threatfrom mining operations.

➢ Serpentine grassland covers about 70% of thetotal area of the Great Dyke.

➢ An area of 1000–1500 km2 of the serpentinegrassland covers the Great Dyke, and most ofthe endemics are known from this habitat.

➢ The Great Dyke was divided into two ecologi-cally distinct zones (North and South), eachwith an area of over 750 km2.

A total of 115 species were assessed as qualifyingfor the threat categories (CR, EN, VU). 56 of thesewere assessed as Critically Endangered, 17 asEndangered while 42 were Vulnerable. In additionfour species were recorded as Extinct (in the wild)in Zimbabwe. The remainder of the 400 or sospecies that were assessed were placed in theLower Risk categories or Not Threatened. It shouldbe noted that the assessments are preliminary andneed to be treated as such until extensive fieldsurveys take place. The participants are currentlyworking on those species that could not be cov-ered during the working session due to lack oftime. After editing and checking, the list will besent out for peer review. Any comments arewelcome.

The working session was very successful, thanksto the participants’ enthusiasm and the contribu-tions of those who could not attend the session.We would also like to thank the Head of theNational Herbarium & Botanic Garden for havingallowed us to use the facilities of the institute andSABONET for funding the workshop. We hope tohave another one sometime next year (2001).

Species assessed as Extinct (in the wild) inZimbabwe

Triceratella drummondii Brenan (Commelinaceae)

This species has only been collected from South-ern Zimbabwe in Chitorapudzi in BeitbridgeDistrict. Several trips to the area were made to

collect this species again but with no success. Theonly record so far is the type collection by BobDrummond. The species was recently collectedfrom Mozambique at the coast north ofQuelimane.

Angraecopsis trifurca (Rchb.f.) Schltr.(Orchidaceae)

It is an epiphytic or lithophytic orchid occuring inevergreen rain forest and mossy rocks in shade.This species was last collected in 1951 (Crook 398)and numerous, extensive searches have beenfruitless. It is believed to be extinct in Zimbabwe.It is said to also occur in the Comoro Islands butthis requires confirmation.

Encephalartos chimanimaniensis Dyer &Verdoorn (Zamiaceae)

It is known from the Eastern districts, and hasalways been known to be rare. It was only knownfrom a single site in the catchment of the BuziRiver. Recent field surveys have been unable tolocate any individuals in Zimbabwe. The speciesappears to have been illegally wiped out forhorticultural and traditional medicine purposes.

Oeceoclades decaryana (H. Perrier) Garay & P.Taylor (Orchidaceae)

The species occurs in riverine forest in rockyareas and under bushes on rocky outcrops; it wasalso recorded in coastal forest. It is said to beextinct in Zimbabwe (W. Fibeck, pers. comm.).The first known population was destroyedwhen a road was constructed but individualswere rescued 2–3 years ago (1988–1987). Thespecies grows very well in cultivation. CycloneElene destroyed the only known habitat inMarch 2000. ❏

Anthony MapauraRDL Coordinator–ZimbabweNational Herbarium & Botanic GardenCY 550, Causeway, Harare, ZimbabweTel.: 263-4-744170E-mail: [email protected]


The recent acquisition of a new Toyota Hilux 4X4by the National Herbarium in Pretoria, throughSABONET, has opened up new frontiers in bo-tanical exploration in the northern provinces ofthe RSA. Since May 2000, the authors have usedthis vehicle to gain access to many remote areasof Mpumalanga and the Northern Province. Thishas led to several new plant distribution recordsfor these provinces as well as the discovery ofundescribed plant taxa, some with extremelylocalised distributions. Many more areas needexploration and we believe that many moreinteresting discoveries will be made now we havethis vehicle. The year 2000 will however be bestremembered for the first discovery of Brachystegiaspiciformis, a mainly central African tree, withinthe borders of South Africa (Hurter & Van Wyk,in press).

Brachystegia spiciformisan exciting discovery

by Erich van Wyk & Johan Hurter

“Discovery favours the well equipped”

Contrary to popular belief in the Western world,Africa is not covered by vast “impenetrabletropical jungles”. The single biggest vegetationtype on the continent is a thornless, deciduouswoodland called “Miombo”. This vegetation typecovers some 2 800 000 km2 of the African conti-nent and is centralized on the central Africanplateau (Smith 2000). The magnificent springflush of Miombo has been compared to the spec-tacular New England fall and is one of the mostcolourful spectacles on the African continent.

Miombo is characterized by the dominant pres-ence of Brachystegia species and in the moresouthern parts of the range this is usuallyB. spiciformis. The vernacular “Miombo” is de-rived from “Muombo”, which describes thesetrees in several languages indigenous to the vastplateau, including parts of Malawi, Zambia, DR

� South Africa’s new miombo woodland. (Photo: Erich van Wyk)


Congo and Tanzania. Miombo also extends intoAngola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe (Smith2000). However, until recently B. spiciformis hasbeen conspicuous by its absence from SouthAfrica. Many people have tried to locate this treein the past, including one of the authors, butwithout success.

During the last week of August 2000, the authorswere investigating new seed sources for theMillennium Seed Bank Project (an internationallycollaborative project driven by the Royal BotanicGardens, Kew, in partnership with the NationalBotanical Institute in South Africa). They were ina remote part of the Northern Province with theaid of the new SABONET vehicle. The area isknown as Venda and over the years it has yieldedseveral surprising discoveries of generally moretropical plant taxa and narrow endemics. It takesa day to reach the area and another to return toour respective bases. Effective transport in thefield is therefore of cardinal importance, in whatbecomes only a three-day expedition in a five-dayworkweek.

We spent one day in the more arid parts of thesouthern Limpopo valley, concentrating on the

Malonga sand flats and the northern slopes of theSoutpansberg. On the second day we decided toinvestigate a nearby population of the endemicCombretum vendae as a possible seed source.Venturing deeper into the Soutpansberg on ourway to one of the known populations, we noticeda “new turn-off” leading off into unexploredterritory. However, with our minds set on theCombretum, we decided to investigate the road onthe way back, should time allow. At 16:00, after along hard day, we decided to head back to basecamp at Tshipise some 200 km by road from theC. vendae stands. Passing the “new turn-off”, weheaded straight for base.

The third day was spent in the same general area,investigating a few endemic species as potentialseed sources. After various successful collectionswe decided to return to base and prepare for thefollowing day’s long drive to Nelspruit andPretoria respectively. On the way back westopped at a stand of Albizia adianthifolia, onceagain passing the “new turn-off”, and decided toinvestigate it later if we had time. At last, return-ing from our Albizia foray we drove down the“new turn-off”. Suddenly, after about 5 km, the

� Flowering South African Brachystegia spiciformis. (Photo: Erich van Wyk)


vegetation started changing, becoming moremesic in nature. As we came over a slight rise, themost magnificent sight in Africa greeted us: therein front of us and in full spring colours was avalley of thousands of B. spiciformis. As the sunwas setting, we hastily decided to collect fertileherbarium vouchers and left the scene only afterthe last rays had disappeared. Overjoyed by ourfind, we reached base camp at about 20:00.

This discovery is a most significant find, extend-ing the distribution range of B. spiciformis south-wards across the arid Limpopo valley.Palaeopalynological evidence suggests the pres-ence of this vegetation type as far south asNaboomspruit dating back to 19 000 BP (Scott1982; Frost 1996). It is believed that during geo-logical times, Miombo woodlands had expandedand contracted in response to climatic change(Campbell 1996). The discovery could shed somelight on various vicariant events that might havetaken place some 19 000 years ago.

The ecology of this population is now beingstudied and we hope to present more detailedtechnical information in a formal publication.

Acknowledgements

We are indebted to Prof. A.E. van Wyk for con-firming the identity of herbarium material. Wealso thank Mrs Emsie du Plessis for improve-ments to the text.

References

Campbell, B. (ed.) 1996. The miombo in transition:woodlands and welfare in Africa. Center for Interna-tional Forestry Research, Bogor.

Frost, P. 1996. Palaeohistory of miombo wood-lands. In B. Campbell (ed.), The miombo in transi-tion: woodlands and welfare in Africa: 6. Center forInternational Forestry Research, Bogor.

Hurter, P.J.H. & Van Wyk, E. in press. A firstdistribution record for Brachystegia spiciformis inSouth Africa. Bothalia.

Scott, L. 1982. A late Quaternary pollen recordfrom the Transvaal bushveld, South Africa. Qua-ternary Research 17: 339–370.

Smith, P. 2000. The Miombo woodlands of Africa.Plant Talk 20: 30–33. ❏

Johan HurterLowveld National Botanical GardenP.O. Box 1024Nelspruit, 1200E-mail: [email protected]

Erich van WykNational Botanical InstitutePrivate Bag X101Pretoria, 0001E-mail: [email protected]

Goldblatt, P. & Manning, J. 2000. Cape plants:A conspectus of the Cape Flora of South Af-rica. Strelitzia 9, National Botanical Institute.ISBN 0-620-26236-2. Hard cover, A5 size, pp.743.A complete synoptic account of the Cape flora,including ferns and fern allies, gymnospermsand angiosperms. With keys to families andgenera. Species entries include a diagnosticdescription, flowering time, habitat and distri-

New publications from the National Botanical Institute

bution. Species are arranged alphabetically andgrouped in natural clusters to facilitate identifica-tion. Cape plants follows the most recent availabletreatments for all plant groups, and the accountsof several families and many genera have beencontributed by specialists in those groups. Anintroductory essay describes the geology, climateand the physical and floristic characteristics of theflora. With 12 pages of colour photographs ofCape plants.


The flora of southern Africa (Namibia, Botswana,Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa) is very rich anddiverse with over 24 000 species distributed overa number of biogeographical regions. One of thestrengths of the South African National BotanicalInstitute (NBI) is its national network of eightgardens spread across several of these regions.This enables it to grow many species underconditions close to that of their natural areas.

The living plant collections at Kirstenbosch play apivotal role in helping the NBI achieve its missionto “promote the sustainable use, conservation,appreciation and enjoyment of the exceptionallyrich plant life of South Africa, for the benefit of allits people”.

Kirstenbosch is the largest and second oldest ofour botanical gardens (only the Natal NationalBotanical Garden is older) and receives a largenumber of tourists and professional visitors. Thegarden is located in Cape Town, which experi-ences a mild Mediterranean climate with mostrain falling during the winter months, and hastraditionally grown a representative range of ourflora. The summers are warm and dry, making it avery good climate for growing a range of planttypes. In addition, a conservatory has been built

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardenby Anthony Hitchcock

to house xerophytic plants that cannot be grownoutdoors. As Kirstenbosch is located in the centreof the Cape Floral Kingdom, the main emphasisof the garden is on plants from this region.

The Kirstenbosch collections can be divided intotwo categories. The first category comprises thosecollections grouped into families or parts offamilies, including Proteas (Proteaceae), Ericas(Ericaceae), Restios (Restionaceae), Pelargoniums(Geraniaceae), Buchus (Rutaceae), Streptocarpus(Gesneriaceae), Ferns (Pteridophytes), Disa(Orchidaceae) and Cycads (Zamiaceae).

The second category comprises collections ofsimilar plant form or habitat such as trees, shrubs,alpines, succulents, bulbs, annuals and herba-ceous perennials.

Protea CollectionThe Proteaceae, Restionaceae, Ericaceae andRutaceae families form the Fynbos collection atKirstenbosch. Thirteen of the 14 genera and 220 ofthe 387 species are represented in the collection inthe garden and nursery. In addition, 74 of the 161rare and endangered species are grown.Leucospermum, Leucadendron and Protea are themain genera represented. The collection in the

Living Plant Collections


garden has been planted with plants from otherfynbos families and is aimed at providing horti-cultural, as well as botanical, interest. The collec-tion is used intensively by schools and tertiaryeducational organisations. It is also very popularwith tourists.

housed in the nursery. Fifty-three of the rare andendangered plants are grown. The collectionserves as a source of material for reintroductionprograms. Two species extinct in the wild, Ericaverticillata and Erica turgida, have been success-fully reintroduced to a local nature reserve onthe Cape lowlands. The collection serves as aneducational, research and horticultural resource.

Restio Collection

The family Restionaceae forms an integral part ofFynbos vegetation. The Restios are divided into19 genera of which 13 are represented in thecollection. Fifty-five of the 314 species are grownat Kirstenbosch, including eight of the 65 rare andendangered species. The collection is used foreducation and research. Horticultural researchinto germination methods for this group has seengreat strides over the last decade; previously, veryfew species could be germinated. The germina-tion of the nut-seeded species still present achallenge. Plants are displayed in the garden totest their potential and promote them to nursery-men and gardeners. The species are tested fortheir longevity and horticultural potential. Se-lected species are mass-produced and sold to thewholesale trade as seedlings or bigger plants.

Erica Collection

The Erica collection is a representative display ofthe largest genus in South Africa—Erica com-prises about 660 species, of which more than 430occur in the southwestern Cape. The collectionconsists of about 252 species of which many aredisplayed in the garden. A special pot collectionincluding the rare and endangered species is

� Silver trees (Leucadendron argenteum) on the lawns inthe protea garden. (Photo: Colin Paterson-Jones)

Rutaceae Collection

There are 14 genera in the Rutaceae; most arefynbos species occurring in the Cape FloralKingdom. The Kirstenbosch collection consists of11 genera and 122 species. This group of aromaticshrubs includes some of the most promisinghorticultural plants in the country. A numberhave become very popular garden subjects andare arousing interest overseas. As with otherfynbos plants there are some that still presenthorticultural problems. This group is representedwidely in the gardens and in a dedicated sectionof its own. A pot collection of selected forms isgrown in the nursery.

� Fernwood Buttress towers over the erica garden.(Photo: Colin Paterson-Jones)

• Continued on page 179



Pelargonium Collection

The genus Pelargonium is part of the Geraniaceaefamily and consists of about 220 species. Most arefound in southern Africa with about 80% confinedto the winter rainfall area of the western Cape.Pelargonium is a very diverse genus and is di-vided into 14 taxonomic sections. The collectionhouses 119 species representing all 14 sectionsand thus displays the range of diversity of thegenus. The collection is a good source of plantmaterial for the University of Stellenbosch forDNA studies; it is also being investigated forpotential anti-bacterial properties. Plants aredisplayed in a section in the garden and in acomprehensive pot collection in the nursery.

limited to some of the species in the genus Disaand especially the different forms of Disa uniflorathat occur in the southwestern Cape. These formsare selected for use in breeding programs. Thisorchid is exceptionally beautiful and has beenrecognised locally and overseas to have good cut-flower and pot-plant potential. An effort has beenmade to rebuild the collection after a period ofneglect. The collection is housed in the nurseryand flowering specimens are displayed in theBotanical Society Conservatory.

Fern Collection

There are about 331 known native species ofpteridophytes in the southern African sub-region,of which 246 occur in southern Africa (includingBotswana). The fern collection houses 72 speciesof which 28 are endemic to the Cape Peninsula.The collection is housed in a glasshouse and isused intensively for educational purposes. Plantsare displayed in one of the corner units of theconservatory.

Cycad Collection

The cycad collection at Kirstenbosch is the largestcultivated collection in existence. There is noactive collecting to increase the collection—themain objectives of the collection are conservationand providing information on the propagationand cultivation of cycads. Rare and endangeredspecies are grown for distribution to botanicalgardens world-wide. Pollen and seed are alsodistributed. The collection is displayed in thecycad amphitheatre and in the nursery.

Clivia Collection

At present, the Clivia collection is not as repre-sentative as we would like and John Winter isactively collecting to improve it. The objective isto systematically collect as many forms of Cliviaminiata, C. nobilis, C. gardenii and C. caulescensthroughout their known distribution as possible,and to bulk up the material collected for displayin the garden.

Bulb Collection

The collection comprises approximately 700species. Bulbous plants from all parts of SouthAfrica are cultivated, but most are winter rainfall

Streptocarpus Collection

This is a small collection of ornamental plantswith a lot of potential as breeding stock.Streptocarpus is used in various shade sections ofthe garden and in the conservatory for display.The main collection is housed in the nursery.

Disa Collection

Orchids are a diverse and specialised group.Orchid collections require intensive maintenanceand the Kirstenbosch collection is therefore

� Pelargonium cucullatum.(Photo: Colin Paterson-Jones)



species, due to the exceptionally high number ofspecies that occur in this region. The bulk of thecollection is housed in the nursery, under cover,as many of the species cannot survive the heavywinter rainfall and heavy soils in the garden. Inaddition many bulbs fall prey to moles, porcu-pines and guineafowl if planted in the garden.Only the toughest bulbs such as Watsonia,Agapanthus, Dietes and Clivia can be grown suc-cessfully in the garden. A major function of thecollection is for horticultural and taxonomicresearch, which has given rise to a number ofbooks. Attractive genera are displayed in the KayBerg Bulb House in the Botanical Society Con-servatory. Seed is collected and distributed tomembers of the Botanical Society and for sale.Approximately 100 rare and endangered speciesare maintained in the collection, and wherepossible, re-introduced into the wild, or distrib-uted to other botanical gardens world-wide.

Alpine Collection

The Alpine collection is one of the youngestKirstenbosch collections. The alpine flora of SouthAfrica—although unfamiliar to the South Africangardening public—is attracting much overseasinterest. The collection is drawn from the Lesothohighlands and the Drakensberg. Collections arealso made from the high mountains in the south-western Cape. The developing collection ishoused in the nursery and plants are displayed inone of the specialist units in the Botanical SocietyConservatory. Many of the plants require specialgrowing conditions, such as high light intensityand low moisture and humidity. Horticulturalresearch is being conducted to determine theirhorticultural potential and methods of growingand displaying these plants. The Alpine grouphas been determined to have about 137 generaand over 300 species.

Succulent Collection

This is a representative collection of the SouthAfrican succulent flora and other xerophyticplants, with an emphasis on plants with horticul-tural potential and those that are rare and endan-gered. It consists of the collection in the gardensin the Mathews’ Rockery and other rockeriesdisplaying Aloes and the Lampranthus group.Collections needing protection from the weatherare kept in the nursery and as display material inthe Botanical Society Conservatory. There is also aconcerted effort to make succulent plants avail-able to the public and other botanical gardens.The strength of the collection lies in groups likeAloaceae and Mesembryanthemaceae families.About 1 000 of the approximately 4 000 indig-enous succulent species are represented.

Current research is being done into the horticul-tural potential of succulents as garden and house-plants as they are true “waterwise” plants. Astudy of the cliff-dwelling succulents is also beingdone and a section of the Conservatory is beingdeveloped to display these. Regular field trips areundertaken to increase the range of the collectionwith special emphasis on medicinal plants. TheBotanical Society Conservatory is five years oldand most of the plants, including the baobab, are

� The cycad amphitheatre. (Photo: Colin Paterson-Jones)



well established. Education is seen as one of themajor attributes of this collection. Garden staffhave published a number of books, papers andmagazine articles to popularise succulents.

Tree and Shrub Collection

This is a representative collection of South Afri-can trees and shrubs. The emphasis is on plantswith horticultural potential and those that arethreatened or rare. The collection is representedthroughout the garden with the subtropical coastsection displayed in Section Q. The collectionserves as material for display, research and educa-tion. Material from this collection is propagatedfor sale to the public and distribution to otherbotanical gardens. The strength of the collection isin the representation of plants from the subtropi-cal coast, a complete Ficus collection and afro-temperate forest species.

At least 350 of the approximately 1 000 SouthAfrican tree species are grown at Kirstenbosch.Current activities include establishing a sub-tropical forest, making use of natural succes-sion using Virgilia and Trema orientalis. Plantsof the local silver willow, Salix mucronatasubsp. hirsuta, which became extinct in theCape Peninsula, have been reintroduced intothe streams at Hout Bay and Constantia. Fieldtrips are aimed at collecting species that will beuseful introductions.

Herbaceous Collection

Herbaceous plants include annuals, herbaceousperennials such as Diascia, Plectranthus, Sutera,Lobelia and Nemesia, and a range of free-floweringplants that are used to great effect in the mostvisited parts of the garden. This group consists ofsome of the most colourful species and is a grouprecognised overseas as having huge commercialpotential. This is still a relatively young collectionand growing rapidly with an almost unlimitedresource of suitable material in all regions ofSouth Africa. The main function of the group isdisplay with the main emphasis being on springand summer when most of our visitors come toKirstenbosch. The Diascia collection has also beenthe subject of pioneering research on plant–insectinterrelationships (pollination biology).

Maintenance of the Collections

Collections held at Kirstenbosch and other botani-cal gardens are a valuable resource. A hugeamount of time and resources is dedicated todevelop them and research them. It is thereforeimperative that this effort and expense is notwasted. At Kirstenbosch, a maintenance plan isbeing established to ensure that the essentials ofday-to-day and season-to-season maintenance ofthe collection are documented in detail. Thisinformation is not only necessary for the presentincumbents, but also for future persons whowould be required to look after our collections.We hope that with the introduction of the mainte-nance plan, which will be updated and amendedon an annual basis, we can improve on the qualityand sustainability of these valuable nationalcollections. ❏

Anthony HitchcockNursery ManagerKirstenbosch National Botanical GardenPrivate Bag X7Claremont 7735South AfricaE-mail: [email protected]

� Mesembs provide a riot of colour in October.(Photo: Colin Paterson-Jones)



herbaria had already computerised all the grassspecimens and two had nearly done so. By No-vember 2000, four herbaria had completelycomputerised the Poaceae and a further three hadalmost covered the family.

Total number of specimensSince December 1999, the following herbaria havemade the most progress with computerisation:

• SRGH (National Herbarium, Zimbabwe)—ca 27 000 specimens computerised

• WIND (National Herbarium, Namibia)—ca 18 500 specimens computerised

• NBG & SAM (Compton Herbarium,Kirstenbosch)—ca 14 000 specimens computer-ised

Computerisation of southern Africa herbaria is acore activity within the SABONET Project. Fre-quent updates are necessary to show the progressmade by participating institutions. Maps showingthe geographical distribution of specimens com-puterised by the southern Africa herbaria wereincluded in the August 1998 and December 1999editions of SABONET News; bar graphs wereincluded in the August 1998, April 1999 andDecember 1999 editions. The purpose of thisupdate is to evaluate the current status of datacapturing in the participating herbaria.

Poaceae

A regional decision was taken in September 1997to start computerisation by focusing on the grassspecimens (Poaceae). In December 1999, three

Computerisation of southern Africa herbaria:a regional update

by S.J. Siebert and C.K. Willis

� Number of specimens (solid bars) and percentage of collections (striped bars)computerised in selected southern African herbaria using the PRECIS SpecimenDatabase.


The National Herbarium in Namibia (WIND) hasthe highest percentage of computerised speci-mens: 90.3% of a total of ca 70 000 specimens havebeen computerised. WIND is followed by theNational Herbarium (PRE) of South Africa with63.7% of a total of ca 1 200 000 specimens and theHerbarium of the National University of Lesotho(ROML) with 51.3% of a total of ca 16 000 speci-mens.

New directions

The data computerised in the regional herbariaare of great importance to southern Africa, as thisis the first attempt ever to compile a comprehen-sive, organised database of all known plant taxaoccurring within selected herbaria of the southernAfrican sub-region. Decision 2 of the TripartiteReview Recommendations of 25 August 2000suggested that IT issues be given priority andspeeded up and that the level of training beaddressed where possible (Minutes of the NinthSABONET Steering Committee meeting 22.2.2).Improvement of the computerisation process willbe given a high priority in the coming year.

We hope that the computerisation rate will in-crease once all the data capturing computers havebeen upgraded at the participating herbaria. Thecurrent rate is 78 700 specimens per annum—312specimens are computerised per working day inthe southern African herbaria. On average, everyparticipating herbarium computerises 24 speci-mens per day.

In Decision 7 of the Tripartite Review Recommen-dations of April 1999, it was suggested that theSABONET members should become more pro-active in biodiversity issues (Minutes of the NinthSABONET Steering Committee meeting 22.1.7).This implies that we should find ways to use ournewly acquired capacity to address issues sur-rounding plant diversity, such as manipulation ofour databases for conservation actions, compilationof Red Lists, regional planning, research proposalsand networking. This will affect the future devel-opment of computerisation in SABONET-partici-pating herbaria. Relevant comparative statisticaldata sets will assist us in determining the keyplant groups that have to be computerised.

� Number of grass specimens computerised (solid bars) and the percentage of the total grass specimencollection this represents (striped bars) in selected southern African herbaria using the PRECISSpecimen Database.


Geographical Information Systems

The computerised information will be far morevaluable in future if the data is suitable for datamanipulation techniques. In this regard,georeferencing is of the utmost importance.Quarter-degree grid square references should beattached to all computerised specimens. ThePoaceae will again be the first group to be tack-led. The aim is to link the distribution data of thisfamily with a Geographical Information System(GIS). This will enable us to plot the distributionof the taxa, which will be of more than just taxo-nomic use.

� A comparison of total number of plant specimens computerised by participating southern Africanherbaria during each of the two periods March–November 1999 and December 1999–December 2000.

Conclusion

We are hoping to enhance the computerisationprocess by developing personnel skills, imple-menting user-friendly and efficient software andcollaborating with the SECOSUD project. Capablestaff should be appointed and a course will bescheduled to train the new data capturers. ❏

Stefan J. SiebertSABONET Regional CoordinatorE-mail: [email protected]

Christopher K. WillisDirector: Gardens & Horticultural ServicesNational Botanical InstituteE-mail: [email protected]

“Based on projected extinction rates, botanic gardens are likely to accumulate moresamples of the living dead, only a portion of which are likely to be reintroduced. Thesetaxa therefore represent a long-term horticultural cost; accordingly, their potential forpublic education and fundraising should be fully exploited.”

Maunder, M. et al. in Conservation Biology 14(5): 1348-9. (2000)


SOUTHERN AFRICAN BOTANICAL GARDENS

NEEDS ASSESSMENT PUBLISHED

SABONET has recently published the SouthernAfrican Botanical Gardens Needs Assessment byDaan Botha (recently retired), Christopher Willisand John Winter of South Africa’s NationalBotanical Institute. This is the eleventh number inSABONET’s occasional SABONET Report Seriesand was published in November 2000.

Twenty botanical gardens from eight of the tencountries in southern Africa (Botswana, Lesotho,Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa,Zambia and Zimbabwe) were included in thisneeds assessment. Although they participate inthe SABONET Project, neither Angola norSwaziland has botanical gardens.

Extracts from the publication are included below.The Needs Assessment is available free of charge toanyone interested around the world, and thosewho would like to receive a copy can request itfrom the SABONET Regional Coordinator at thefollowing address:

Mr Stefan SiebertSABONET Regional Coordinatorc/o National Botanical InstitutePrivate Bag X101Pretoria 0001South AfricaTel. (27) 12 804 3200Fax: (27) 12 804 5979/3211E-mail: [email protected]

Extracts from the Southern AfricanBotanical Gardens Needs Assessment

Executive summary

The network of southern African plant scientistsdeveloped as a result of the GEF/UNDP andUSAID/IUCN ROSA-funded SABONET projecthas proved to be an important mechanism forcooperation, collaboration and capacity-buildingamongst botanists in the ten countries of southernAfrica. Although many of the details still need tobe worked out by the countries and participatinginstitutions concerned, SABONET could, at leastfor the duration of the project, serve as the coordi-nating body for a regional network of botanicalgardens in southern Africa. Preliminary results ofthis regional botanical gardens needs assessmenthave indicated that the staff attached to thosegardens surveyed have relatively similar needs interms of training, computerisation of plantrecords and general botanical garden manage-ment. These needs can be addressed by tailor-made training courses and workshops developedand conducted within the region. Closer collabo-ration, however, needs to be developed withnational universities, herbaria and conservationagencies, as well as with the BGCI and othergardens and networks around the world.

Introduction

This report represents the results of the firstneeds assessment of southern Africa’s botanicalgardens. The gardens survey was conductedbetween July 1998 and December 1999, followingthe request and approval of the necessary fundsby the Southern African Botanical DiversityNetwork’s (SABONET) Steering Committee at itsfifth meeting, held in Gaborone, Botswana, on 27April 1998. Following the decision, mechanismswere put in place for personal visits to the re-gion’s national botanical gardens by the authors,together with individual Curators (where avail-


able) of South Africa’s National Botanical Gar-dens. In addition to those gardens surveyedoutside South Africa, South Africa’s eight Na-tional Botanical Gardens and the Durban BotanicGardens were surveyed through correspondenceduring 1999/2000. Preliminary results of thegardens needs assessment were presented inearlier editions of SABONET’s newsletter,SABONET News (Willis, Botha & Winter 1998,1999). The needs assessment was conducted withthe aim of determining the needs of and gather-ing first-hand information about the variousbotanical gardens in the region. The needs, par-ticularly with regards to training, will be used todesign a tailor-made Botanical Gardens Manage-ment Course for garden staff within the southernAfrican region. This will form part of SABONET’scapacity-building activities within the region(Huntley, Matos, Aye, Nermark, Nagendran,Seyani, da Silva, Izidine, Maggs, Mannheimer,Kubirske, Smith, Koekemoer, Dlamini, Phiri,Nobanda & Willis 1998).

SABONET has already produced several recentpublications concerning the status of botanicalresources in the southern African region, publish-ing a status report on southern Africa’s nationalherbaria in March 1997 (Willis 1997), as well asthe results of a needs assessment of 55 southernAfrican herbaria conducted by Gideon Smith andChristopher Willis during 1998 and 1999 (Smith,Willis & Mössmer 1999). In addition, SABONEThas also published two editions of Indexherbariorum: southern African supplement (Smith &Willis 1997, 1999a); the second edition covers 95herbaria in the region. A directory of southernAfrican plant taxonomic and diversity expertisewas published in July 2000 (Mössmer & Willis2000). Whilst up-to-date information on southernAfrica’s herbaria is now readily accessible, littlehas been written or published about southernAfrica’s botanical gardens, particularly thoseoutside South Africa. A manual on environmentalinterpretation in botanical gardens has, however,recently been published by SABONET (Honig2000).

This report builds upon information about south-ern Africa’s botanical gardens published in the

International Directory of Botanical Gardens(Heywood, Heywood & Wyse Jackson 1990), andis a first attempt at synthesizing the informationavailable on southern Africa’s botanical gardensin a single publication, as well as publishing theneeds of selected botanical gardens in the region.It is anticipated that this information can, andwill, be used by national botanical gardens withinthe region to source their own funding.

The database of southern African botanical gar-dens developed during this survey, as well as therest of the publication, will be added toSABONET’s dedicated web site(http://www.sabonet.org) in due course. Cura-tors and staff of the surveyed botanical gardensare encouraged to inform the SABONET RegionalCoordinator of any changes to the garden-specificinformation contained in this publication. In thisway, the database can be kept current.

Summary of infrastructural/develop-mental needsAdministrative staff

Bookshop

Boreholes

Botanical literature

Computer(s)

Conservatory/Glasshouse

Directional signage

Education Centre

Erosion control

Fax machine

Fencing of garden

Fertilizer storeroom

Fuel storeroom

Garden Centre

Gardens mapped

Greenhouse development

Horticulturists

Index nursery maintenance and development

Interpretive Officer/Education Officer

Interpretive signage and story boards

Irrigation systems installed/upgraded/expanded

Lawnmowers


Nursery development

Office space

Parking area

Part-time herbarium assistant

Photocopier

Plant labels

Plant records database and accessioning

Poison storeroom

Quarantine area

Radios (2-way)

Removal of alien invasive plants

Restaurant

Spraying equipment

Storage for growing media, soil, sand, compost,etc.

Storeroom for tools and supplies

Theme gardens

Tractor and trailer

Upgrading/replacement of old equipment

Vehicle(s)

Visitor Interpretation Centre

Workshop (for maintenance of vehicles andequipment)

Recommendations

It is important that southern Africa’s botanicalgardens develop their visions, missions andmaster plans in order to guide their development.Gardens need to consider their developmentwithin a local context, and not to try and emulateother gardens in the region or in other parts of theworld. Support must be obtained from the localsurrounding community, and the garden shouldbe seen as an essential part of community life. Itis only through soliciting support from the localcommunity that the gardens surveyed will haveany chance of sustainability. Gardens must alsodemonstrate their relevance to the conservationand sustainable use of botanical diversity in thearea and country. Linkages also need to be devel-oped with national and provincial conservationagencies responsible for environmental manage-ment, and staff attached to gardens need tobecome involved in national planning exercises

and contribute to national and local conservationprojects. Botanical gardens as collections of livingplants must be justified from every possible pointof view “in order to be able to continue to asserttheir right to support” (Raven 1981).

Most of the staff training needs of the varioussouthern African botanical gardens could beaddressed in tailor-made training courses hostedby the National Botanical Institute in SouthAfrica. Components of this course, or a separatecourse, could be presented on the development ofmaster plans and also the computerisation ofcollections. The NBI’s Data Management sectionhas recently developed an in-house PRECISGarden Records Database (developed usingMicrosoft Access), which is currently being usedby several of South Africa’s National BotanicalGardens to computerise their collections, andcould be adopted by gardens elsewhere in south-ern Africa.

Other training needs, although not specificallymentioned by the gardens surveyed, mightinclude workshops on the role of gardens withrelation to both the Convention on BiologicalDiversity (CBD) and the operation and implica-tions of other important conventions, such as theConvention on International Trade in EndangeredSpecies of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), theUnited Nations Convention to CombatDesertification (CCD), the United Nations Frame-work Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),Agenda 21 (concerning sustainable developmentin the 21st century) and the Convention onWetlands (Ramsar). Peter Wyse Jackson (1997) haswritten a very useful article on the impact of theCBD on botanical gardens, as well as producing abasic checklist for botanical gardens to guidetheir involvement in implementing the CBD. Thishas been supplemented by articles by Peter WyseJackson, Etelka Leadley and Christopher Hobson(1999) in the June 1999 edition of Botanic GardensConservation News. The BGCI’s publication ACITES Manual for botanic gardens (Akeroyd et al.1994) is also an essential document guidinggardens in their implementation of CITES. Otheruseful publications produced by Botanic GardensConservation International (BGCI) include


The Botanic Gardens Conservation Strategy (IUCN-BGCS & WWF 1989), Handbook for Botanic Gardenson the Reintroduction of Plants to the Wild (Akeroyd& Wyse Jackson 1995), Botanic Gardens Conserva-tion News and the forthcoming Handbook on PlantConservation in Botanic Gardens (in prep.). Closerlinks need to be developed between SABONET,the BGCI, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and otherbotanical garden networks and capacity-buildingprogrammes around the world. An MoU betweenSABONET and the Australian Network for PlantConservation (ANPC) has recently been endorsedby the respective governing bodies. The project’snewsletter, SABONET News, and the occasionalSABONET Report Series can serve as useful vehi-cles for sharing relevant information amongstbotanical gardens in the region as they are cur-rently doing for staff attached to southern Africanherbaria.

With reduced membership fees now available forbotanical gardens in developing countries, each ofsouthern Africa’s botanical gardens should beencouraged to become a member of the BGCI.According to the BGCI’s membership directoryfor 1999 (Holland 1999), national botanical gar-dens in only two of the southern African countriessurveyed (Malawi and South Africa), are cur-rently members of the BGCI. Being members ofthe BGCI will allow staff in each of southernAfrica’s botanical gardens to receive BGCI’sregular publications (Botanic Gardens ConservationNews and the environmental education newslet-ter, Roots) as well as a wide range of other techni-cal publications, and allow staff to be kept in-formed of recent developments in, and shareexperiences and information with, botanicalgardens from around the world. It will alsoillustrate commitment on the part of the staffattached to the botanical gardens to be part of theglobal network for botanical gardens and plantconservation.

The following general recommendations, severalof which are closely aligned with the BGCI’sInternational Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conser-vation (Wyse Jackson & Sutherland 2000), can bemade with regard to the development of southernAfrica’s botanical gardens:

Inventory/Garden Records

◗ Computerisation of living collections shouldbe seen as a priority, and computerised infor-mation should be backed up regularly.

◗ Good records should be kept of plants growingin the garden.

◗ Prepare checklists of the non-landscaped areasof the garden (which should involve integra-tion with herbaria and associated staff).

◗ Maintain an up-to-date inventory of plants inthe garden.

◗ Ensure that the botanical garden collections,data and expertise are made available andutilised to the fullest extent possible.

Funding

◗ Gardens need to source locally/nationally foradditional funding and infrastructural sup-port; where available, this can be supple-mented by international funding.

◗ Solicit private sponsorship when governmentfunding is meagre or non-existent.

Collaboration

◗ Closer collaboration with conservation agenciesshould be encouraged, specifically with regardto the propagation, cultivation, reintroductionand subsequent monitoring of threatened plants,as well as in the preparation and implementationof species recovery plans and programmes.

◗ Network with other gardens to share resourcesand knowledge.

◗ Carefully planned and considered short-term(up to 3 months) attachments or fellowshipsshould be developed between gardens withinthe region.

◗ Communication between the region’s gardenstaff should be enhanced, particularly throughthe medium of electronic mail.

◗ Collaborate and develop partnerships withother African botanical gardens and gardenswith similar climates and vegetation types(e.g., Katse Botanical Garden with other alpinebotanic gardens around the world).

◗ Establish collaborations with developmentagencies that work to integrate biodiversityconservation with sustainable use of plantgenetic resources.


Conservation

◗ Integrate ex situ activities and in situ plantconservation through botanical gardens.

◗ Promote public awareness of the importance ofin situ conservation and need for integrating insitu and ex situ conservation activities.

◗ Ex situ conservation should be seen as a meansto an end, not an end in itself.

◗ Become relevant to the surrounding commu-nity in an integrated way, without losing sightof the fact that the primary focus of botanicalgardens should be on the conservation andsustainable use of plants; use every opportu-nity of visitors visiting the garden to promotethe conservation of plants.

◗ Endemic, rare/threatened, ‘flagship’ species(which stimulate conservation awareness) andeconomically-important plants should receivepriority for inclusion in ex situ collections.

◗ Identify priority tasks, institutional responsi-bilities and resources that will be available tosupport specific conservation programmes.

◗ Become involved in national planning proc-esses, such as in the preparation and imple-mentation of National Biodiversity Strategiesand Action Plans (NBSAPs).

◗ The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)should guide the operation of the botanicalgarden.

◗ Develop policies, procedures and practicesbased on the recommendations of the CBD.

◗ Ensure all staff are aware of and follow thegarden’s policies, procedures and practicesrelating to implementing the CBD based on therecommendations of the CBD; publicise theCBD and its objectives to garden visitors andsupporters.

◗ Support and contribute to the implementation,where possible, of the following conventionsapart from the CBD: Convention on Interna-tional Trade in Endangered Species of WildFauna and Flora (CITES), Convention toCombat Desertification (CCD), United NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC), World Heritage Convention,Convention on Wetlands (RAMSAR).

◗ Botanic gardens must prove their relevance tothe conservation of natural and cultural herit-age and their importance as national institu-tions for science, culture, recreation andtourism.

◗ Adopt and implement, where possible, thenew International Agenda for Botanic Gardensin Conservation.

◗ Become involved in the monitoring and identi-fication of plant diversity at all levels.

Education/Training◗ Support and empower staff through relevant

training, skills and knowledge development.

◗ Where possible, use the skills within thegarden to provide courses that build thecapacity of the general public.

◗ Botanic gardens should be developed ascentres for environmental education andsustainability by having well planned environ-mental education programmes with appropriateresources allocated.

◗ Develop an environmental education strategyidentifying and prioritising the target groups,conservation messages, sustainability anddevelopment issues to be addressed.

◗ Education programmes should incorporate avision for a more socially and environmentallysustainable future.

◗ The design and implementation of amentorship programme should be consideredfor botanical garden managers and horticultur-ists.

◗ Develop interpretive and directional signageappropriate to the surrounding community.

◗ Relate the role of environmental education todemographics in southern Africa, e.g. numberof children/proportion of population below acertain age.

◗ Demonstrate the interdependence and rela-tionship of society and nature.

Management

◗ Work with staff in developing and documentingpractical and realistic strategic plans, institu-tional policies and business plans, and put inplace mechanisms for their implementation.


◗ Involve staff in all levels of planning anddecision making.

◗ Develop relationships with expert supportteams to assist in botanical garden develop-ment.

◗ Modern, high-technology equipment is notnecessary for a garden to be effective. Gardenscan do a lot with a little. Consideration of thequestions “how/what/why” are important.

◗ Gardens need to concentrate on getting thebasics right.

◗ Develop a management plan for the naturalarea of the garden.

◗ Encourage the involvement of volunteers inthe management of the botanical garden andthe establishment of a “Friends” of the garden.

◗ Manage collections according to strict scien-tific and horticultural standards.

◗ Actively remove exotic and alien invasiveplant species from the natural areas of thegarden.

◗ Update and re-evaluate collection, conserva-tion, research, labelling, education and otherpolicies on a regular basis to ensure that theyremain relevant to the changing needs of theorganisation and national and internationalpolicies.

◗ Promote occupational Health and Safetywithin the botanical garden.

Marketing

◗ Promote the garden so as to attract tourists,and work with local, national and interna-tional tourist authorities to seek their adviceand assistance in publicising the botanicalgarden.

◗ Promote sustainable tourism, and all appropri-ate activities that are associated with it.

Botanical Garden Management Course

Regarding the training needs amongst botanicalgarden staff within the southern African region, atailor-made course should include most, if not all,of the subject areas listed below.

Proposed course modules are

◗ Development of vision, mission and masterplans

◗ Development and implementation of businessplans

◗ Fund-raising

◗ Propagation and cultivation techniques

◗ Landscape design

◗ Environmental education

◗ Interpretive signage and labelling

◗ Irrigation techniques

◗ Use of chemicals

◗ Use of chain saws, brushcutters

◗ Nursery development and management

◗ Garden Records Database

◗ Financial Management and budget control

◗ Plant Record System

◗ Preparation of compost areas

◗ Field collecting techniques

◗ Research techniques

◗ Customer service

◗ Pest control

◗ Human resource management/staff supervi-sion

◗ Equipment/machinery operation and mainte-nance

◗ Arboriculture

◗ Health and Safety

◗ Commercial horticulture

◗ Integration of ex situ and in situ conservation

◗ Development of living collections policy

Some of these may need to be held as stand-alonecourses, for example:

◗ Environmental education

◗ Garden Records Database

◗ Human Resource Management ❏


The Second IUCN World Conservation Congressmet in Amman, Jordan, on 4–11 October 2000. Anestimated 2 000 individuals from 140 countries—representing governments, non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs), United Nations Agenciesand the private sector—were invited by IUCNHeadquarters to participate. The congress washosted by the Government of the HashemiteKingdom of Jordan under the auspices of HisMajesty King Abdullah and in the presence of theIUCN’s patron, her Majesty Queen Noor. TheCongress was the first major conservation eventof the new millennium and the largest environ-mental gathering ever to be held in the MiddleEast. Queen Noor of Jordan officially opened theCongress at the Amman Roman Theatre, request-ing a moment of silence for those suffering in theMiddle East.

BackgroundThe first IUCN Congress was held in Montreal in1996. IUCN Congresses are convened every threeor four years to determine policy and the broadelements of IUCN’s global programme. TheCongress is also a forum for IUCN members toelect the President and other IUCN officials, andto approve the Union’s Programme and budget-and-craft resolutions. Guatemala has offered tohost the Third World Conservation Congress.

Quadrennial PlanIUCN’s new streamlined global programme forthe next four years—the Quadrennial Plan—wasadopted at this Congress. The Plan is designed tomeet the IUCN’s primary conservation goals,namely facing the extinction crisis and restoringand maintaining ecosystem integrity. The frame-work of the Quadrennial Plan is based on sevenKey Result Areas (KRAs):

• KRA1: Effective management and restorationof ecosystems

• KRA2: Institutions, agreements, processes andpolicies

THE SECOND WORLD CONSERVATION CONGRESSby Janice Golding

• KRA3: Incentives, including finance, forconservation of biodiversity and sustainableuse of natural resources

• KRA4: Equitable sharing of the costs andbenefits

• KRA5: Assessment of biodiversity and ofrelated social and economic factors

• KRA6: Information management and commu-nication systems

• KRA7: Effective management of the Union

The IUCN global Quadrennial Plan incorporatessocio-economic factors into the traditional bio-logical approach of the IUCN and represents ashift to a results-driven, more integrated pro-gramme. Projects do not have to fit exclusivelyinto a single KRA; many overlap two or moreKRAs. Secretariats at the Regional Level andCountry Office level will adopt the KRA frame-work.

Thematic SessionsCongress delegates met in 12 short, parallelthematic sessions on Thursday, 5 October, andSaturday, 7 October. The purpose of these the-matic sessions was to consider issues rangingfrom ecospaces and a global culture forsustainability, to environment and security, tolocal solutions promoting social equity andcultural diversity. Each of the IUCN’s six Com-missions, including the Species Survival Commis-sion to which the IUCN Red Data List Pogramme,amongst others, is attached, hosted thematicsessions. The Species Survival Commission is thelargest of the Commissions, having approxi-mately 6 800 members followed by the WorldCommission on Protected Areas with some 1 300members.

One of the most interesting thematic sessionshosted by the Species Survival Commission wasentitled Integrating biodiversity science intoenvironment policy and management: biological


research priorities to achieve conservation. TimSullivan (Chicago Zoological Society) was thefacilitator. Panelists outlined current priorityresearch areas for biodiversity, including

• Habitat loss

• Fragmentation

• Overexploitation

• Exotic species

• Pollution

• Climate change

• The implications of local and commercialbushmeat consumption for conservation intropical forests

• Methods for exchange of scientific informationand local knowledge between biologists andartisan fishers, in particular regardingseahorse populations

• Strategies and policies to address invasivespecies, particularly grey squirrels in Europe

• Ways to conserve fragmented landscapes byestablishing biodiversity corridors

• Research priorities for designing effectivemarine reserve networks

• Ecological implications of economic crises

Panellists focused on how to make researchrelevant and accessible to local communities anddecision-makers. Participants of the thematicsession were then divided into Working Groupsto consider interactions between scientists andpractitioners and how to better integrate informa-tion from biological science into policy andmanagement. On the first topic, participantsnoted that scientists must provide user-friendlydata, clear data maps and information on ecologi-cal restoration and economic valuation of biologi-cal functions to practitioners while working witha multidisciplinary approach. Participants sug-gested practitioners could benefit from under-standing the value and limits of science, taxo-nomic methodology and emerging scientific areasincluding genetics, metapopulation dynamics andgeographic information systems (GIS). On inte-grating scientific information into policy, groupmembers stressed that scientists must improvesynthesis of information, understand core cultural

differences, ensure that science is relevant andmake information accessible in a timely manner.

Representatives from each thematic sessionreported on the outcomes of the Working Groupsin a Plenary Session on Monday, 9 October.

Plenary sittingsThe IUCN Congress convened in nine plenarysittings over the course of the meeting to hearreports from the President, Director General andCommission Chairs, as well as to approve theIUCN Commission mandates, the programme, thebudget, membership-related matters and resolu-tions. The resolutions formed a significant com-ponent of the Plenary sittings. For the Commis-sion mandates, the Species Survival Commis-sion—represented by the Chair, David Bracket—overviewed programme priority areas:

• Species information service

• The Red List Programme

• Sustainable use

• The Wildlife Trade Programme

• The Plant Conservation Programme

• Invasive species

• Digital libraries

He said SSC is concentrating on developingfisheries-related programmes and a focus ontrade in medicinal plants.

ResolutionsMore than 100 separate resolutions, recommenda-tions, expressions of opinions and proposals werereviewed before the IUCN Congress. This tookplace through numerous working/contact groupsoften long after dark or just after the crack ofdawn. In the end, the Congress adopted 104resolutions on a wide range of conservation,programme and governance topics. The resolu-tions adopted by IUCN members will orientIUCN’s new Quadrennial programme and strate-gies for the next four years. The resolutionsaddressed a wide range of issues, from savingendangered species such as river dolphins,Houbara bustards and black rhinos, to the man-agement of ecosystems in Antarctica, Meso-America, and the Mediterranean. After adoptingor withdrawing all outstanding resolutions and


hearing closing statements, participants left thePlenary Hall of Amman’s Sports City for the lasttime shortly after noon on the last day of theCongress.

ConclusionIUCN’s Regional Office for Southern Africa(IUCN-ROSA)—to which SABONET is attached—and its member institutions met almost every dayto discuss Congress issues relevant to the south-ern African region. All the southern Africancountries (except Namibia) were represented bymember institutions. These meetings were ex-tremely constructive: they afforded a rare oppor-tunity to meet with other IUCN member institu-tions in the region and enabled the southernAfrican countries to get clarification and consen-

sus on membership and voting issues surround-ing Congress resolutions and the IUCN RegionalCounsellors (for southern Africa and Africa).Ms Julianna Chileshe (Zambia) was re-elected asthe southern African region’s counsellor.

The Second IUCN World Conservation Congresswas a truly global event and also a reminder to usall that economic and political agendas are almostat the forefront of environmental issues. ❏

Janice GoldingSouthern African Plant Red Data List CoordinatorNational Botanical InstitutePretoria, SOUTH AFRICAE-mail: [email protected]

The BGCI does not intend to publish or makeavailable information on the origins of plantsincluded in the database or checklist, nor thenames of botanic gardens growing each taxon asin some cases these data may be sensitive. Insteadthe checklist will document the name of the taxain cultivation as well as the number of botanicgardens with wild material and the number ofbotanic gardens with material of unknown origin.

If your botanic garden is interested in participat-ing in this project, please contact the BGCI at thefollowing address:

Diane Wyse JacksonBotanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI)199 Kew RoadRichmondSurrey TW9 3BWUnited KingdomFax: (44) 20 8332 5956E-mail: [email protected]

Botanic Gardens Conservation International(BGCI) has initiated an exciting new project toprepare the first-ever preliminary checklist ofplant taxa in cultivation in botanic gardens of theworld. South Africa’s National Botanical Institute,with its network of eight national botanicalgardens spread across five provinces of thecountry, will be participating actively in this newinitiative. We encourage all other southern Afri-can botanic gardens to participate in this initia-tive as well, and to contribute data for inclusionin the checklist.

In return for providing data, botanic gardens willreceive:

• A copy of the preliminary checklist (in elec-tronic form and as a printed list)

• An analysis of their holdings, in comparison toother collection holders (i.e. an indication ofthe taxa that are held uniquely by them andhighlighting any plants they grow that arecritically endangered)

• Technical assistance to allow them to exchangedata in electronic form with collaboratinginstitutions

New BGCI Initiative:World-wide checklist of plants in

cultivation


Southern African herbaria

History

The herbarium at the Kirstenbosch NationalBotanical Garden has had a chequered historyover the last 80 years. The first building waserected in 1924 and housed the University ofCape Town’s Bolus Herbarium for some 14 yearsbefore it was relocated to the University. The thendirector of the garden, Prof. Robert HaroldCompton, had started a separate collection in hisown office and appointed Miss Buddy Barker tocurate and expand it in 1935. This collectionhoused in 18 cabinets was moved to the vacantherbarium building in 1940. Then began a vigor-ous expansion of the collections, which amountedto 57 000 sheets in 119 cabinets when Comptonretired in 1953. (He then moved to Swazilandwhere he began building another herbariumcollection!) In 1956 the trustees of the SouthAfrican Museum transferred their herbarium(SAM) of 118 cabinets, as well as the botanist DrJoyce Lewis and another staff member, toKirstenbosch. With the amalgamation of theBotanical Research Institute (BRI) and NationalBotanical Gardens (NBG), the Compton Her-barium became part of the National BotanicalInstitute (NBI). In 1996 the Stellenbosch Her-barium (STE) was integrated with the ComptonHerbarium in the newly erected research complexat Kirstenbosch. The Compton Herbarium is nowthe second largest herbarium in southern Africa.

The South African Museum Herbarium (SAM),the oldest in Africa and one of the oldest in the

southern hemisphere, originated when the visit-ing German collector, C.F. Ecklon, deposited 325of his specimens in the museum in 1825. Dr.Ludwig Pappe took charge of the herbariumwhen the museum was reorganised in 1855, andhe is considered to be its founder. He was ap-pointed as the first Colonial Botanist in 1858. Onhis death in 1863, his private collection, whichincluded Carl Zeyher’s main herbarium, wasbought for the Cape Government Herbarium.This was housed in the same room in the Museumas the Museum Herbarium. Under Prof. PeterMacOwan, Colonial Botanist, the two collectionsgradually merged and increased considerably. In1910 the Cape Government ceded the so-called“Cape Government Herbarium” to the Museum.It has been housed in the Compton Herbarium atKirstenbosch since 1956 and was finally donatedto the NBI by the Trustees of the South AfricanMuseum in 1988.

The Stellenbosch Herbarium (STE) was foundedby Dr. Vera Duthie on her appointment to theVictoria College (now the University ofStellenbosch) in 1902. Owing to lack of funds, theUniversity Council handed the general herbariumover to the State and in 1960 it became known asthe Government Herbarium/Staatsherbarium,Stellenbosch. The District Herbarium covering theStellenbosch area was retained by the University(STEU). With the rationalisation of the statebotanical interests in 1989 it became part of thenew National Botanical Institute, but was onlycombined with the NBG herbarium in 1996.

Compton Herbarium (NBG)



CollectionsThe collections are housed in the modern researchcomplex built in 1996 in the Kirstenbosch Na-tional Botanical Garden in Cape Town. Thebuilding is situated on the eastern slopes of TableMountain just below some patches of fineafromontane forest.

The modern metal cupboards have magneticallysealing doors. Ventilation is of the filtered, forced-air variety—full air-conditioning being too expen-sive. The specimens are arranged following thesystem employed in the List of Southern AfricanPlants based on PRECIS.

The approximately 500 000 specimens mainlycover the winter-rainfall region of southern Africaand contribute towards the understanding of thebiodiversity of the unique Cape Floral Kingdom.There are many valuable old specimens fromaround the world in SAM. The collections consistonly of pteridophytes, gymnosperms andangiosperms. The marine algal collections wererecently donated to the University of Natal,Pietermaritzburg (NU), the fungi to the NationalMycological Herbarium in Pretoria (PREM), andthe lichens and bryophytes to our sister her-barium, the National Herbarium in Pretoria(PRE). For historical reasons the SAM collections,the oldest in the country, are kept separate fromthe general herbarium and are sent out on loanunder the SAM label.

For the last two years the herbarium has hadassistance from the SABONET programme withthe databasing of these collections. To date 28 000specimens have been encoded, covering thegrasses and the first of the important families inour area: Amaryllidaceae and Iridaceae. Thesewill be followed by the Restionaceae, Ericaceaeand Proteaceae. At the current rate it will takesome 15 years to encode all the herbarium collec-tions. Problems have arisen with deciphering theold handwriting—especially German Gothicscript and Latin.

Information serviceThe herbarium provides a wide-ranging informa-tion service to the public, environmental plan-ners, conservation bodies and other researchers.On average the staff identify about 3 000 speci-mens a year.

ResearchThe research undertaken by the staff mainlycovers plants from the winter-rainfall region—Proteaceae, Ericaceae, Stilbaceae, Amaryllidaceae,Iridaceae, Mesembryanthemaceae, Thymelaea-ceae, Campanulaceae, and Orchidaceae. Theherbarium fortunately received a grant from Mr.Leslie Hill, a 90 year-old Cape Town business-man, recently. This will be used to set up a labora-tory for molecular studies, which will greatlyassist staff in their work on the phylogenetics andevolution of Cape taxa. A recently published jointproject was ‘Cape Plants: a Conspectus of theCape Flora of South Africa’ covering the 9 000species in our area.

� Prof. Robert Harold Compton.

� The new building housing the Compton Herbarium.



Staff and research interestsCurator:Dr John Rourke (Proteaceae, Stilbaceae)

Assistant Curator:Dr Josephine Beyers (Thymelaeaceae)

Scientific staff:Ms Pascale Chesselet (Mesembryanthemaceae)

Mr Christopher Cupido (Campanulaceae)

Ms Ferozah Conrad (Molecular studies)

Dr Hubert Kurzweil (Mesembryanthemaceae,Orchidaceae)

Dr John Manning (Iridaceae, pollination biology)

Dr Ted Oliver (Ericaceae)

Dr Gail Reeves (Molecular studies)

Dr Koos Roux (Pteridophyta)

Dr Dee Snijman (Paterson-Jones)(Amaryllidaceae)

Technical staff:Mrs Cathy Cupido

Mrs Judith Leith

Mrs Edwina Marinus

SABONET staff:Botanist (vacant)

SABONET data encoders:Ms Angela Baatjes

Ms Michelle Engelbrecht

Mrs Veronica Williams

Secretary:

Mrs Susette Foster

Contact e-mail address:[email protected] ❏

Dr E.G.H. Oliver

Compton Herbarium (NBG)National Botanical Institute, Kirstenbosch7735 CAPE TOWNTel.: (27) 21 799 8724E-mail: [email protected]

� The research complex is situated on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain.



Aubrey Amos Kalonga Banda, Scientific Officerwith the National Herbarium and Botanic Gar-dens of Malawi (NHBG) 1996–2000, died inZomba, Malawi on Monday, 9 October 2000.

Aubrey was born in Mwimba Village, TraditionalAuthority Lukwa, Kasungu District (CentralRegion of Malawi) on 12 May 1963. He attendedvarious primary schools before going to St JohnBosco Secondary School in Mzimba District(Northern Region) in 1981. In 1985 he enrolled fora Degree in Education, majoring in Biology andEarth Sciences, at Chancellor College, a constitu-ent College of the University of Malawi. Heobtained his Bachelor of Education degree in1990.

In 1991 he got a job with the Ministry of Educa-tion and was posted to Mchinji Secondary Schoolwhere he taught Biology and Mathematics. A yearlater, he enrolled for a full time MSc degree inApplied Biology (Weed Science) with the Univer-sity of Malawi. He rejoined the teaching profes-sion after receiving his MSc in 1994.

Aubrey joined the National Herbarium andBotanic Gardens of Malawi (NHBG) as AssistantScientific Officer in 1996 and was promoted to therank of Scientific Officer in 1998. Aubrey wasinterested in the taxonomy of Cyperaceae espe-cially the genus Pycreus P. Beauv.

OBITUARY

Aubrey Amos Kalonga Banda(May 1963–October 2000)

▲ Aubrey Amos Kalonga Banda (1963–2000)

After joining the NHBG, Aubrey was involved ina number of committees, such as the Social Wel-fare, Housing, and National Herbarium Commit-tees. He also served on the national TechnicalCommittee on the Environment. This Committeeis mandated to look into the EIA processes of newand existing projects.

Aubrey attended two SABONET-organisedcourses: the Aquatic Plants Training Course heldat Mboma Island, Okovango Swamps, Botswana,in 1998, and the Database Management Course,Pretoria, in 1999. In addition he also participatedin the Earth Watch Botanical Survey in Taita Hills,Kenya in 1997.

Before his death, Aubrey was Project Officer foran Italian funded project: “Service for Environ-mental Conservation of Biodiversity and Sustain-able Development” (SECOSUD).

Aubrey is survived by his wife, Lynn, and twodaughters, Thokozani (8 years) and Mtendere(5 years). ❏

Dr Augustine ChikuniNational Herbarium and Botanic Gardens of [email protected]


The object of this column is to keep an eye openfor literature which SABONET users may finduseful. This will mostly be new publications, butmay well include older information in answer toquestions such as “what’s the best key to…”. It isneither possible nor desirable that the flow ofsuch information should be one-way, from Preto-ria outwards, so readers should please feel free tosubmit notes and useful information to the ad-dress at the end of this column.

The citation of an item here does not imply anyguarantee of its contents or even its existence;very often the compiler has not seen the docu-ments referred to.

New books received in the Mary GunnLibrary

Breuer, I. 1999. Haworthia photographs used totypify taxa described by Dr Karl von Poellnitz.

Breuer, Niederzier. ISBN 3-936573-11-2. Paper-back, A5+ size, pp. 200. Price unknown.

Von Poellnitz published many names in variousgroups of succulents before the Second WorldWar. The identities of the plants he named are notalways easy to determine, as he worked from livematerial grown in his own collection, and it haslong been believed that he did not always makeherbarium specimens of his “pets”. However itseems that in Haworthia the question is somewhatmore involved. Here the plants were sent toBerlin, where they were photographed andpreserved. Any dried material that was prepared,was destroyed in the course of World War II, andthe fate of any other specimens or photographswas unknown to most fanciers. Breuer has foundnot only the photographs that were taken when

THE PAPER CHASEby Stefan Siebert and Hugh Glen

the plants arrived in Berlin, but specimens pick-led in alcohol of 11 species. These latter survivedbecause the Berlin pickle collection was in adifferent building to the main herbarium.

Due to the destruction of the dried specimens, thepickled material and photographs must serve astypes for Von Poellnitz’s names. Breuer has citedthe photographs as lectotypes in previous publi-cations, which has not made the study of thetaxonomy of Haworthia all that much easier, as thepictures remained unpublished. Now, at last, hehas published all the photographs that matter inrelatively large reproductions, with the plantsappearing almost life size. Now it becomes mucheasier than ever before to determine the correctusage of Von Poellnitz’s names in this genus, atleast. The introduction lists the 11 names typifiedby spirit material. Text with each photo gives theplace of publication of the name, and the origin ofthe plant depicted.

The prefatory text rhapsodises about the beautifulpictures; specialists may agree, but the reproduc-tions leave this scribe musing on the extent towhich beauty resides solely in the eye of thebeholder. This book is nomenclaturally important,probably essential to the dedicated Haworthiaspecialist, and will leave the rest of us (thoseinterested in neither nomenclature norsucculents) wondering what the fuss is about. Asa nomenclature enthusiast I see the point; as anon-succulentophile I am unmoved by it.

Additional books and theses received inthe Mary Gunn Library

◗ Flórula de la Reservas Biológicas de Iquitos,Perù. R.V. Martínez. Missouri Botanical GardenPress, St. Louis, 1997.


◗ A taxonomic study of Brachystegia Benth.(Caesalpinioideae–Leguminosae). A.C. Chikuni.Ph.D. thesis, University of Oxford, 1998. [Doublywelcome and well-timed because of Erich vanWyk’s discovery of B. spiciformis in theSoutpansberg!]

◗ Keep the Lowveld green! P. Joffe. Environmen-tal Resource Guide: Greening SA 7, 2000.

◗ A taxonomic revision of the genus Ruppia L.(Ruppiaceae) in KwaZulu-Natal. S. Ramdhani.B.Sc. (Hons.) University of Durban-Westville. 1998.

◗ Orchids of Guatemala: A revised annotatedchecklist. M.A. Dix & M.W. Dix. Missouri Botani-cal Garden Press, St. Louis, 2000.

◗ Systematics of Masdevallia, Part 1. C.H. Leur.Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, 2000.

◗ Gametofitos de Helechos. B. Péres-García & R.Riba. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis,1998.

Books still in the cataloguing queue, sofurther details are not yet available

◗ Biogeography: an ecological and evolutionaryapproach, edition 6. C.B. Cox. & P.D. Moore.Blackwell, Oxford. Quarto, pp. 300. ISBN 0-86542-778-X. Price unknown. 2000.

◗ MAFF International workshop on geneticresources: Wild Legumes. Anon. Ministry ofAgriculture, Fisheries and Food, Tsukuba, Japan.1999. This is a Japanese publication, from anorganisation not to be confused with the Britishgovernment department of the same name. Itrecords the proceedings of a conference held inTsukuba in October 1999, and has apparentlybeen assembled without an editor.

◗ The new Oxford book of food plants. J.G.Vaughan & C.A. Geissler. Oxford UniversityPress, Oxford. Approximately A4, pp. 240. ISBN0-19-850567-1. Price GBP 14.99. 1999.

◗ Describing species: practical taxonomic proce-dure for biologists. J.E. Winston. ColumbiaUniversity Press, New York. Quarto, pp. 518.ISBN 0-231-06825-5. Price unknown. 1999.

Recently published papers

Africa—Environment & Wildlife(September 2000)

◗ The Lubombos. J. Culverwell. Pages 55–61. “Atyour feet you might find tiny fig trees rooted in anutrient-poor fissure, possibly no more than 10centimetres high, yet decades old, or a clump ofAfrica’s only cactus species, Rhipsalis baccifera.”

African Journal of Ecology 38 (2000)

◗ Wildfire reduces elephant herbivory onColophospermum mopane (Fabaceae). A.D.Kennedy. Pages 175–177. An interesting studylooking at the manipulation of elephant distribu-tion through the application of prescribedwildfires. This might be a probable solution to themanagement of elephant populations throughnon-destructive means.

◗ A reassessment of the fire-tolerance of somemiombo woody species in the Central Province,Zambia. A.E. Cauldwell & U. Zieger. Pages 138–146. Fire-tolerance classification of indigenouswoody plants has useful applications in the fieldsof forestry and protected area management. Theproposed method is useful to assess and monitorthe fire regime status of woodlands.

◗ Trends in woody vegetation cover in theKruger National Park, South Africa, between1940 and 1998. H.C. Eckhardt, B.W. van Wilgen &H.C. Biggs. Pages 108–115. Changes in the coverand density of shrubs and trees were assessedfrom aerial photographs. The changes in woodycover were meaningful showing the long-termeffects of overgrazing and prescribed burning.

◗ The influence of large mammalian herbivoreson growth form and utilization of mopane trees,Colophospermum mopane, in Botswana’s NorthernTuli Game Reserve. C.V. Styles & J.D. Skinner.Pages 95–101. Mopane veld is of great value toungulates in times of drought. It is shown thatelephants and eland are responsible for the scrubmopane. This phenomenon is necessary to ensurereliant nutritious resources are available forbrowsers during the stressfull spring to summertransition.


Aloe 37(1) (2000)◗ A new Cheiridopsis (Mesembryanthemaceae)from the Richtersveld. G. Williamson. Pages 4–7.

◗ Will the real Ruschianthemum gigas pleasestand up! P.M. Burgoyne. Page 8.

◗ Remarkable succulents from Africa. K. Retief.Page 9.

◗ The iNtelezi plants of the eastern Cape: tradi-tional and contemporary medicines. T. Dold &M. Cocks. Pages 10–13.

◗ The Gamsberg zinc mine project. A. Fick.Pages 14–17.

◗ Type locality of Haworthia springbokvlakensispreserved. A.Fick. Page 18.

Bothalia 30(2) (October 2000)

◗ Studies in the Sphaerocarpales (Hepaticae)from southern Africa. 3. The genus Riella and itslocal species. S.M. Perold. Pages 125–142.

◗ FSA contributions 17: Casuarinaceae. C.M.Wilmot-Dear. Pages 143–146.

◗ Three new species of Erica (Ericaceae) fromWestern Cape, South Africa. E.G.H. Oliver & I.M.Oliver. Pages 147–156.

◗ Notes on African plants. Pteridophyta. A newcombination and new records for the Flora ofMalawi. J.P. Roux. Page 155.

◗ Notes on African plants. Convallariaceae. Anew combination in Eriospermum. J.C. Manning.Page 157.

◗ Notes on African plants. Hepaticae andZannichelliaceae. New records from an ephem-eral pan, Blouvlei, in Western Cape, SouthAfrica. W.R. Harding, S.M. Perold & R.P. Glen.Page 157.

◗ Combining floristic and growth form composi-tion in a gradient-directed vegetation survey ofMatjiesrivier Nature Reserve, Western Cape,South Africa. R.G. Lechmere-Oertel & R.M.Cowling. Pages 161–174.

◗ Wetland vegetation of southern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. L. Perkins, G.J. Bredenkamp& J.E. Granger. Pages 175–186.

◗ Wetland vegetation in the North-eastern SandyHighveld, Mpumalanga, South Africa. P.M.Burgoyne, G.J. Bredenkamp & N. Van Rooyen.Pages 187–205.

◗ Miscellaneous notes. Aloaceae. The conserva-tion status of Aloe in South Africa: an updatedsynopsis. G.F. Smith et al. Page 206.

◗ Miscellaneous notes. Apocynaceae. Chromo-some studies on African plants. 15.Periplocoidea. J.J. Spies et al. Page 211.

◗ Miscellaneous notes. Poaceae. Chromosomestudies on African plants. 14. Panicoidea. A.Strydom et al. Page 201.

◗ Miscellaneous notes. Picking up the pieces:Red Data Lists in southern Africa. J.S. Golding.Page 213.

◗ Obituaries: Otto Heinrich Volk, S.W. Arnell,Rosemary Charlotte Holcroft, and Werner Rauh.Pages 215–224.

Bradleya 18 (2000)

◗ Four new, succulent Bulbine species(Asphodelaceae) from the Western and EasternCape Provinces of the Republic of South Africa.G. Williamson. Pages 31–40. Yet another exampleof the floristic richness of the Western and EasternCape. The paper shows how the growth habit ofthese new taxa is related to their environment.

Cactus and Succulent Journal 72(5)(September 2000)

◗ Superb Succulents. D. Benadom. Pages 286-287.Plants featured in this paper are award winnersfrom the Gates Cactus and Succulent Society’sshow in the United States. Two southern AfricanGasteria species are featured as winners.

Conservation Biology 14(4) (2000)

◗ Timber certification: where is the voice of thebiologist? E.L. Bennett. Pages 921–923.

◗ International conservation education. C.A.Acosta. Page 924.


◗ Indicators of biodiversity for ecologicallysustainable forest management. D.B.Lindenmayer et al. Pages 941–950.

◗ Making consistent IUCN classifications underuncertainty. H.R. Akçakaya et al. Pages 1001–1013.

Haseltonia 7 (2000)

◗ Aptenia cordifolia (L.f.) Schwantes(Mesembryanthemaceae) in Zulu traditionalmedicine—An overview. N.R. Crouch, G.F. Smith& M.T. Smith. Pages 30–36. Aptenia cordifolia is anattractive and hardy plant that is more familiar asa horticultural subject than as a medicinal one.This paper investigates the medico-magical valueof this taxon to the Zulu as an association that hasimpacted on its human-assisted dispersal in thesub-region.

◗ Succulent and xerophytic plants used by theTopnaar of Namibia. P. van Damme & V. van denEynden. Pages 53–62. The Topnaar people havelearned to appreciate and utilize more than ahundred of the 450 plant species occurring intheir area. This paper summarizes the varioususes of the 18 species studied duringethnobotanical field research in the Topnaar’sarea of the desert.

Herbertia 54 (1999)

◗ Selected scientific literature on geophyticplants, 1995–1999. A.W. Meerow. Pages 244–266.

◗ Notes on some rare and newly publishedspecies of Lachenalia from South Africa andNamibia. G. Duncan. Pages 171–179.

◗ The high altitude pineapple lily Eucomisvandermerwei, a rare endemic from South Af-rica. N.R. Crouch & S. Krynauw. Pages 133–138.

◗ Some bulbous flora of the Limpopo Riverdrainage basin in the Northern Province. C.Craib & L. Brown. Pages 129–132.

◗ The seven species of KwaZulu-Natal Crinum:A horticultural review. G. Petit. Pages 118–123.

◗ The ecology and cultivation of rare and little-studied Ledebourias in southern Africa. C. Craib& L. Brown. Pages 43–50.

Ingens 22 (April 2000)

◗ Resilient Baobab tree faces extinction. J.Nyamayedenga. Pages 15–18.

Kew Scientist 17 (April 2000)

◗ Threatened Plants. W. Stuppy. Page 8. Pioneer-ing work conducted by Kew. An audit was under-taken to determine the number of species in theirliving botanical collection which bears an IUCNCategory of Threat.

Ostrich 71(1) (2000)

◗ Community participation in the protection ofKenya’s wetlands. C.M. Gichuki. Pages 122–125.

PlantLife 23 (September 2000)◗ The enigmatic family Mesembryanthemaceae;notes on identifying mesembs. P. Burgoyne.Pages 5–8.

◗ The underground forests of Maputaland. M.Thornhill & I. Felton. Pages 9–11.

◗ Plant collecting expedition to Blyde RiverCanyon Nature Reserve. M. Lötter et al. Pages12–15.

◗ What? No Red Data List for Mozambique.J. Golding & S. Izidine. Page 15.

Science 289(5480) (2000)◗ Preservation of DNA from endangered species.H.N. Poinar & G. Eglinton. Page 726.

South African Journal of Botany 66(2)(May 2000)

◗ Mangrove fungi on dead taproots ofRhizophora mucronata at three localities in


South Africa. T.D. Steinke. Pages 91–95.

◗ Pelargonium quarticola (Geraniaceae), a newspecies from the Knersvlakte. U. Meve, U.Schmiedel & E.M. Marais. Pages 96–98.

◗ Metzgeria nicomariei, a new species ofMetzgeriaceae from South Africa. A. Veltman,M.J. Potgieter & A.E. van Wyk. Pages 112–114.

◗ Seasonal gas exchange responses under threedifferent temperature treatments in a leaf-suculent and a drought-deciduous shrub fromthe Succulent Karoo. M.R. Bowie, S.J.E. Wand &K.J. Esler. Pages 118–123.

◗ Stump size and the number of coppice shootsfor selected savanna tree species.C.M. Shackleton. Pages 124–127.

◗ Short Communications. Roots ofColophospermum mopane. Are they infected byrhizobia? A. Jordaan, H.J. du Plessis & D.C.J.Wessels. Page 128.

◗ Short Communications. New chromosomenumber records for South African Oxalis spe-cies. L.L. Dreyer & C. Johnson. Page 130.

South Africa Journal of Science 96(August 2000)

◗ Intellectual property rights: plants and phyto-medicinals — past history, present scenario andfuture prospects in South Africa. J. George & J.van Staden. Pages 433–442. The ever-changingplethora of patent laws in Europe and the UnitedStates has caused the emergence of a new eco-nomic order that has provided the “North” with acommercial edge over several less developednations gifted with a natural wealth of plant

resources. South Africa should gear itself toprepare well-drafted patent laws for plantproducts.

◗ Facilitation of interdisciplinary collabora-tion in research: lessons from a Kruger Na-tional Parks Rivers Research Programmeproject. G.P.W. Jewitt & A.H.M. Görgens. Pages410-414. The paper deals with the obstacleswhich can be encountered when projects deal-ing with natural resource management drawsupon the expertise of scientists in differentdisciplines. It uses the project in the KrugerNational Park as a case study and draws on itsproblems and solutions.

The African Ethnobotany Network 2(September 2000)

◗ Review of Ethnobotanical Literature for Cen-tral and West Africa. E. Dounias, W. Rodrigues $C. Petit. Pages 5-117. Researchers often get frus-trated when their literature search concerningethnobotany in Africa only yields meagre results.To overcome the difficulties of access to relevantinformation, this Bulletin of the AfricanEthnobotany Network provides a survey ofethnobotanical literature from Central and WestAfrica, which compliments the review for Eastand Southern Africa published in the last Bulle-tin.

Trends in Ecology and Evolution 15(8)(2000)

◗ Eradication revisited: dealing with exoticspecies. J.H. Myers et al. Pages 316–320. ❏


Augrabies splendour. Pieter van der Walt.Info Naturae. ISBN 0-620-26215-X. English. 73 pp.Soft cover, 210 x 150 mm.

The author describes the area as a “museum ofnatural forces” and the intention of the guidebookis to enhance the experience of visitors to thearea. Although the adjacent Riemvasmaak is notpart of the Augrabies National Park, it is includedin this book because the author views it as anintegral part of the Augrabies area. Colour photo-graphs of the flooded river, geological formations,plants and lizards add to the text.

Fourteen chapters cover introductory informa-tion, geology, plants, animals and check lists ofplants and animals.

The introductory chapters contain geographical,travel, climate, and reservation information onthe Augrabies and Riemvasmaak areas. This is

Book Reviewsupplemented with a description of the history ofthe Orange (Gariep) River and the people wholived along its banks. Colourful maps of the areaare provided.

A detailed description of the geology of the areais included and the different geological types areillustrated with colour photographs. This isfollowed by historical information of theAugrabies and Riemvasmaak area with a shortreference to management objectives of the Park.

The chapter on plants consists of descriptions of23 of the most common plant species, distributedin hilltop veld, undulating veld and drainagechannels. The author gives a general introductionto the vegetation and the species are described,but in no specific order. Scientific and commonnames are used and the text makes for easy andinformative reading, although identification ofsome of the plant species from the photographsmight be difficult for most visitors.

The chapter on animals refers to different animalgroups including an extensive description anddiscussion of the Augrabies flat lizard. It isclaimed that the main viewing area, where somany technicoloured lizards scurry about, has thedensest lizard population on earth.

Checklists of flowering plants, mammals, birds,reptiles, fish and frogs complete the booklet andshould be useful to the serious ecotourist. Theliterature references given at the end of theguidebook should come in handy to those insearch of more information.

The layout is good and the guidebook providesinteresting information to any ecotourists visitingthe area. However, the information on animal life,except for the lizards, is somewhat superficial.

It is clear the author’s aim is to cater to the needsof ecotourists and he provides information ongeology, plants and animals not readily available.The guidebook is recommended to people visitingthis arid part of southern Africa. ❏

Dr Noel van RooyenEcologistTel.: (27) 12 3489043


Botanic Gardens and their Commitment to Society intothe Third Millenium18–24 June 2001

Cordoba, Spain

Under the auspices of The International Association of Botanic Gardens (IABG)

Organized by the Botanic Gardens of Cordoba

With the collaboration of the City Council of Cordoba and the University of Cordoba

ContactThe Botanic Gardens of Cordoba

Avda. de Linneo, s/n

14004 - Cordoba, Spain

Contact person: Inmaculada López

Tel.: 34-957-200077 or 34-957-200355

Fax: 34-957-295333

E-mail: [email protected]

ObjectivesThis Conference for experts and others interested in botanic gardens will study the currentstatus and the priorities necessary for the social profitability, the financing and sustainablityof botanic gardens in general. It will focus on gardens’ role in education, their position withinthe framework of international Conventions such as CITES and the Convention onBiodiversity, their potential implication in the trade of plant species and in the collection andconservation of plant genetic resources, their ties to ex situ and in situ conservation programs,as well as the cultural and artistic heritage that is preserved in the gardens themselves.

Potential participantsBotanic garden personnel, nurserymen and scientists interested in plant resources conserva-tion and sustainable management.

Official languagesSimultaneous English / Spanish translation. ❏

Announcement10th International Conference of the International

Association of Botanic Gardens


2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.Hilton-Taylor, C. (Compiler) 2000. IUCN, Gland,Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. xviii + 61pp.

The latest Red Data List from the IUCN-SpeciesSurvival Commission was released in the after-noon of 28 September 2000. This formidablecompilation of the world’s Red Listed plants andanimals has since enjoyed much high-profilemedia coverage in many countries of the world.The 2000 IUCN Red List serves to alert us of, andconfirms, the global extinction crisis. This it doeswell.

The List itself is available as a searchable data-base on the Internet <http://www.redlist.org>due to high demand and the need for increasedaccessibility. A hardcopy containing country andplant group summary statistics is available, and ispackaged with a user-friendly CD-ROM of theList. The CD-ROM is a stand-alone version of theweb site that is well worth browsing. The assess-ments were made using the IUCN 1994 catego-ries. The List will be updated by the IUCN in itscurrent format on an annual basis, possibly usingthe new IUCN categories that were formally

Book Reviewadopted by the IUCN-Species Survival Commis-sion in October 2000.

11 046 plant and animal species appear in thisRed Data List. Of these, only 5 611 are plants.Calculated, this means that 4% of the world’splants appear on the Red Data List; an earlierIUCN Red Data List of two years ago calculated12% of the world’s flora to be on the Red DataList. This surprisingly low figure (compared toprevious global Red List publications) is mislead-ing as it in no way implies an improvement of thesituation. On the contrary, it is emphasisedthroughout that the work is founded on biasesthat can readily be avoided in future compila-tions. The coverage of faunal species such asmammals and birds is relatively good. Peopleinterested in red-listed animals will find the workextremely useful, but unfortunately the samecannot be said for people interested exclusively inplants. All in all, this work is attractively pack-aged, and sets a good standard for future Red Listcompilations. It certainly achieves what it has setout to do: to get people talking about threatenedplants and animals. ❏

Janice GoldingSouthern African Plant Red Data List CoordinatorNational Botanical InstitutePretoria, SOUTH AFRICAE-mail: [email protected]

▲ Number of plant species from the SABONET membercountries that appear in the 2000 IUCN Red List ofThreatened species. Australia, the United States and Canadawere included to compare figures. (Prepared by J. S.Golding)


Mr Mbaki Muzila - [email protected] Moffat Setshogo - [email protected]

LESOTHOHerbarium - National University of Lesotho(ROML)Mr Paseka Mafa - [email protected]

(currently studying for a MSc at theUniversity of Cape Town)

Ms Annah Moteetee - [email protected](currently studying for a PhD at the RandAfrikaans University)

University Botanic GardenMr Moretloa Polaki - [email protected]

MALAWINational Herbarium (MAL) and Botanic GardensDr Augustine Chikuni -

[email protected] [email protected]

Mr Dickson Kamundi [email protected]

Mr Bintony Kutsaira [email protected]

Mr Zacharia Magombo [email protected]

Ms Cecilia Maliwichi [email protected]

Ms Elizabeth Mayaka [email protected]

Mr Montfort Mwanyambo [email protected]

General NHBG address: [email protected]

Medicinal plants: [email protected]

National Botanic Gardens of MalawiMr Mphamba Kumwenda -

[email protected]

The following is a list of the e-mail addresses forstaff working in some of the national/universityherbaria, botany departments, botanical gardensand biodiversity programmes of southern Africa.Thanks to all those who sent their e-mail ad-dresses to the editors for inclusion in this list.

PLEASE NOTE that this list gets updated everyissue of our newsletter. In order to avoid frustra-tion and possible disappointment, our readers areadvised to please use the most recent list avail-able. Some of the addresses listed in previouseditions of the newsletter may no longer berelevant.

SPECIAL APPEAL: Should you be aware of anychanges to one or more of the addresses listedbelow, or would like to be added to the list,please notify Stefan Siebert, [email protected] so that the list can beupdated on a regular basis.

ANGOLAAgostinho Neto UniversityDr Esperança Costa - [email protected]

OR [email protected] [email protected]

Dr Elissaveta Loutchanska - [email protected] Liz Matos - [email protected]

BOTSWANANational Herbarium (GAB)E-mail not yet available

Peter Smith Herbarium (PSUB)Dr Elmar Veenendaal - [email protected] address - [email protected]

University of Botswana Herbarium (UCBG) -NEW ADDRESSES

Southern African Botanists’ E-mail addresses


MOZAMBIQUE

LMA HerbariumMr Mario da Silva - [email protected] Samira Izidine - [email protected]

OR [email protected] Marta Manjate - [email protected]

OR [email protected]

LMU Herbarium - Eduardo Mondlane UniversityMr Salomão Bandeira -

[email protected] Filomena Barbosa -

[email protected] Carlota Quilambo - [email protected]

Department of Biological Sciences - EduardoMondlane UniversityJohn Hatton - [email protected]

NAMIBIA

National Botanical Research InstituteMs Patricia Craven - [email protected] Gillian Maggs-Kölling - [email protected] NBRI address - [email protected]

Polytechnic of NamibiaMr Dave Joubert - [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 Resources CentreMs Herta Kolberg - [email protected]

Namibian Tree Atlas ProjectMs Barbara Curtis/Coleen Mannheimer -

[email protected]

SOUTH AFRICABolus Herbarium (BOL) - University of C5apeTown (includes Associated Staff)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]

Buffelskloof Private Nature Reserve & HerbariumMr John Burrows - [email protected]

C.E. Moss Herbarium (J) - University of theWitwatersrandProf. Kevin Balkwill -

[email protected] Mandy-Jane Balkwill -

[email protected] Glynis Cron - [email protected] Donald McCallum -

[email protected] Reneé A Reddy - [email protected] Ramagwai J. Sebola -

[email protected]

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

Compton Herbarium (NBG & SAM)Dr Jo Beyers - [email protected] Pascale Chesselet - [email protected] Ferozah Conrad - [email protected] Christopher Cupido -

[email protected] Peter Goldblatt - [email protected] Hubert Kurzweil - [email protected] John Manning - [email protected] Ted Oliver - [email protected] John Rourke - [email protected] Koos Roux - [email protected] Dee Snijman - [email protected]

Donald Killick Herbarium, KwaZulu-NatalNature Conservation 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 Botanical GardenMr Martin Lumley - [email protected] Amadeus Mogale (Curator) -

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

Harold Porter National Botanical GardenMs Karin Behr (Curator) - [email protected]

Herbarium SoutpansbergensisMr Norbert Hahn - [email protected]

Jonkershoek HerbariumMs Melanie Simpson -

[email protected]

Karoo Desert National Botanical GardenMr Ian Oliver (Curator) - [email protected]

OR [email protected]

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

[email protected] Annemarie van Heerden (assistant curator) -

[email protected]

Kimberley South African National Parks Her-barium (KSAN)Dr Hugo Bezuidenhout - [email protected] Michelle Harck - [email protected]

Kirstenbosch National Botanical GardenMr Graham Duncan - [email protected] Anthony Hitchcock -

[email protected] Philip le Roux (Curator) -

[email protected] Ernst van Jaarsveld - [email protected]

OR [email protected] (home)

Kirstenbosch Research CentreDr Neville Brown - [email protected]

Dr George Davis - [email protected] J de Wet Bosenberg -

[email protected] John Donaldson - [email protected] Timm Hoffman - [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]

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] Nikaya Govender -

[email protected] Melusi Mazibuko - [email protected] Alfred Ngwenya - [email protected] Nontuthuko Ntuli - [email protected] Yashica Singh - [email protected] Rosemary Williams (Curator) -

[email protected]

Natal National Botanical GardenMr Brian Tarr (Curator) - [email protected]

National Botanical InstituteProf. Brian Huntley - [email protected]

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

(Director: Research & Scientific Services)Mr Christopher K. Willis - [email protected]

(Director: Gardens & HorticulturalServices)

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


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

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] Millissa Heymann - [email protected] Marie Jordaan - [email protected] Marinda Koekemoer (Curator) -

[email protected] Louisa Liebenberg - [email protected] Cuthbert Makgakga - [email protected] Mactavish Makwarela -

[email protected] Alice Masombuka - [email protected] David Mbedzi - [email protected] Jean Meyer - [email protected] Nicole Meyer - [email protected] Kinny Mmakola - [email protected] Beverly Momberg -

[email protected] [email protected]

Mr SonnyboyMothogoane - [email protected] Caroline Netnou - [email protected] Solomon Nkoana - [email protected] Tandiwe Nkonki - [email protected] Sarie Perold - [email protected] Cathy Prentice - [email protected] Julie Ready - [email protected] Elizabeth Retief - [email protected] Paulus Sebothoma - [email protected]

Ms 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]

Librarian: Mary Gunn Library (Ms EstellePotgieter), National Herbarium [email protected]

NBI Librarian (Kirstenbosch):Ms Yvonne Reynolds [email protected]

Peninsula Technikon - Department of BiologicalSciencesMr JC Coetzee - [email protected]

Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithol-ogy - Tierberg Karoo Research Centre field stationDr Sue J. Milton - [email protected]

Plant Genetic Resources Unit, AgriculturalResearch CouncilDr Roger Ellis - [email protected]

Potchefstroom UniversityDr Matt H. Buys - [email protected] Sarel S. Cilliers - [email protected]. Braam Pieterse - [email protected]

[email protected]

Pretoria National Botanical GardenMr Hans Heilgendorff (Curator) -

[email protected]: [email protected]

Qwa Qwa Herbarium - University of the North(Qwa Qwa campus)Prof. Rodney Moffett - [email protected]

Rand Afrikaans University - Botany DepartmentDr Patricia Tilney - [email protected]. Herman van der Bank - [email protected]. Ben-Erik van Wyk - [email protected]

Range and Forage Institute, Agricultural Re-search CouncilDr Kathy Immelman - [email protected]


Rhodes University - Botany DepartmentDr Nigel Barker - [email protected]. CEJ Botha - [email protected]. Roy Lubke - [email protected] Pete Phillipson - [email protected] OR

[email protected](NEW ADDRESSES)

Mr BS Ripley - [email protected]

Rondevlei Scientific Services Herbarium, Wilder-ness National Park, SedgefieldDr Nick Hanekom - [email protected] Francine Rubin - [email protected] Ian Russell - [email protected] Beate Sachse - [email protected]

Saasveld Herbarium (SAAS) - Port ElizabethTechnikonMr Mike Cameron - [email protected] Peet Peens (Curator) - [email protected]

H.G.W.J Schweickerdt Herbarium (PRU) - Uni-versity of PretoriaMs Martie Dednam - [email protected]. Braam van Wyk -

[email protected]

Scientific Services Herbarium, Department ofWater Affairs and Forestry, KnysnaMr Johan Baard (Curator) -

[email protected] Rynhard Kok - [email protected]

Selmar Schonland Herbarium, GrahamstownMs Estelle Brink - [email protected] Tony Dold - [email protected]

Skukuza Herbarium (KNP), Kruger National ParkMs Guin Zambatis (Curator) -

[email protected] Nick Zambatis - [email protected]

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 NatureReserveMr Tony Abbott - [email protected]

University of Cape Town - Botany DepartmentProf. John Bolton - [email protected]. William Bond - [email protected] Jill Farrant - [email protected] Jeremy Midgley - [email protected]. Willie Stock - [email protected]

University of Cape Town - Institute for PlantConservationDr Dave Richardson - [email protected]

University of Durban-Westville - Botany Depart-mentProf. Snowy Baijnath - [email protected] Ashley Nicholas - [email protected] Pravin Poorun - [email protected]

University of Natal-Durban - Biological SciencesDepartmentProf. 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 M. Sibiya - [email protected] Dehn von Ahlefeldt -

[email protected] Paula Watt - [email protected]

University of Natal-Durban - Electron Micro-scope Unit, George Campbell BuildingMr James Wesley-Smith (plant scientist) -

[email protected]

University of Natal-Pietermaritzburg - School ofBotany & 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]


Ms Christina Potgieter [email protected]

Dr MT Smith - [email protected]. J van Staden - [email protected]

University of the North - Botany DepartmentMr Martin J Potgieter -

[email protected] Pieter Winter - [email protected]

University of the Orange Free State - Departmentof Botany and GeneticsDr Andor Venter - [email protected]. Johan Venter - [email protected]. RL Verhoeven -

[email protected]

University of Port Elizabeth - Botany Depart-mentDr 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 - Botany DepartmentProf. George Bredenkamp -

[email protected]. Albert Eicker - [email protected] Veldie van Greuning -

[email protected]

University of Pretoria - Pharmacology Depart-mentProf. JN Eloff - [email protected]

University of Stellenbosch - Botany DepartmentProf. 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 - Botanic gardenPiet van der Merwe - [email protected]

University of the Transkei - Botany DepartmentProf. R Bhat - [email protected] Sizwe Cawe - [email protected] Nikolova - [email protected]

University of North-West - Biological SciencesDepartmentMr S David Phalatse -

[email protected]

University of Venda - Botany DepartmentMr 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 Depart-mentDr Derek Keats - [email protected] Richard Knight - [email protected] M Raitt - [email protected] Frans M Weitz - [email protected]

University of the Witwatersrand - Botany De-partmentProf. Ed Witkowski - [email protected]

University of the Witwatersrand - Department ofPharmacyDr Alvaro Viljoen - [email protected]

Witwatersrand National Botanical GardenMs 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 subject line.

NOTE: Additional South African botanists’ e-mail addressescan be accessed on the internet at the following address:http://www.ru.ac.za/departments/herbarium/SAHWG/address.htmlThe web page entitled “Southern African Botanists’ ad-dresses” was prepared by Peter Phillipson, Rhodes Univer-sity and the Selmar Schonland Herbarium, Grahamstown,with thanks to Nigel Barker and Les Powrie.


SWAZILANDNational Herbarium (SDNH)Mr Titus Dlamini (Curator) -

[email protected] (NEW ADDRESS)This address can be used to contact Titus Dlamini,Gideon Dlamini or Bongani Dlamini at the Na-tional Herbarium. Insert the name of the personin the subject line.

ZAMBIAForestry Herbarium (NDO)Mrs E.N. Chupa - [email protected] Zimba - [email protected]

Herbarium (UZL) - University of ZambiaMs Tasila Banda-Sakala (presently studying atthe Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA) -

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

Mr David Chuba - [email protected](currently studying for a MSc at theUniversity of Cape Town)

Ms Florence Nyirenda [email protected]

Dr Patrick Phiri - [email protected] [email protected]

Munda Wanga Trust (Botanical Garden)Mr Douglas Gibbs - biopark.zamnet.zm

IndependentMr Mike Bingham - [email protected]

ZIMBABWE

Biodiversity Foundation for AfricaMr Jonathan R. Timberlake [email protected] (small messages only) OR

[email protected]

National Herbarium (SRGH) & Botanic GardenMr Ezekeil Kwembeya - [email protected] Claid Mujaju - [email protected] Herbarium (SRGH) - [email protected] Nozipo Nobanda (Curator) -

[email protected]

Ms Ratidzayi (Rattie) Takawira [email protected] (also available through SRGH)

TEAM VUMBA - The Environmental Associationfor Management of Vumba’s Unique MountainBiodiversity AreasDr Colin Saunders - [email protected]

University of Zimbabwe - Department of Biologi-cal SciencesDr Shakkie Kativu - [email protected] I Mapaure - [email protected] Clemence Zimudzi - [email protected]

University of Zimbabwe - Institute of Environ-mental StudiesProf. Bruce Campbell - [email protected]

OR [email protected]. Peter Frost - [email protected]

IndependentMr Michael Kimberley - [email protected]

(cycads, orchids and succulents)Ms Meg Coates Palgrave - [email protected] Darrel C.H. Plowes - [email protected] Fay Robertson - [email protected]

(ecology of miombo and other dry tropicalwoodlands)

Ms Cathy Sharp - [email protected] (ecology ofmacrofungi, especially in miombo woodlands)

Mrs Mary Wilkins/Ellert [email protected]

Mr Bob Dehning - [email protected] (trees)

Botanists working onsouthern African plant taxaThis section lists e-mail addresses of a few of thebotanists living outside southern Africa that areworking with southern African plant taxa. If youwould like to be included in this list, please notifyone of the editors together with the names of thefamilies/taxa you are working on.


AUSTRALIAQueensland Herbarium, Toowong, QueenslandBryan Simon -

[email protected] (work)[email protected] (home)(Tropical grasses)

ENGLANDIUCN - 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)

GERMANYFriedrich-Schiller University, JenaDr Norbert Zimmermann -

[email protected](Euphorbiaceae; Mesembryanthemaceae)

University of BayreuthProf. Sigrid Liede - [email protected]

(Asclepiadaceae; Mesembryanthemaceae)Dr Ulrich Meve - [email protected]

(Asclepiadaceae)

University of Cologne - Botanical InstituteDr Joachim Thiede -

[email protected](Aizoaceae; Crassulaceae)

University of Hamburg - Institut fuer AllgemeineBotanikProf. Dr HEK Hartmann -

[email protected](Aizoaceae; Mesembryanthema)

Dr Pia Parolin - [email protected] (Desert ecology;ecophysiology)

NETHERLANDSAgricultural University, WageningenIr Ben Groen - [email protected]

(Asphodelaceae; Mesembryanthemaceae)Prof. Dr LJG van der Maesen -

[email protected](Fabaceae; Mesembryanthemaceae)

Dr Ir Jan J Wieringa - Herbarium Vadense(WAG) - [email protected](Fabaceae (Leguminosae): Aphanocalyx,Bikinia, Icuria, Monopetalanthus andTetraberlinia)

NEW ZEALANDVictoria University, WellingtonMr Fanie Venter - [email protected]

NORWAYAgricultural University of Norway - Departmentof Biology and Nature ConservationProf. Kåre Lye - [email protected]

(Cyperaceae)

Botanical Garden and Museum, University ofOsloDr Brita Stedje - [email protected]

(Anthericaceae; Asphodelaceae;Hyacinthaceae)

Botanical Institute, The Norwegian Arboretum,University of Bergen, HjellestadDr Cornelis Berg - [email protected]

(Moraceae; Ulmaceae)


SWEDENSwedish Museum of Natural History

Dr Mari Kallersjo - [email protected](Asteraceae; Myrsinaceae; Primulaceae)

Prof. Dr Bertil Nordenstam [email protected] (Compositae,especially Senecioneae and Calenduleae:Syncarpha; Colchicaceae: Anticharis)

Uppsala UniversityProf. Kåre Bremer - [email protected]

(Asteraceae)Mr Mattias Iwarsson -

[email protected](Lamiaceae: Leonotis)

SWITZERLANDInstitute for Systematic Botany, University ofZürichProf. Christopher Cook - [email protected]

OR [email protected] (Hydrocharitaceae;Limnocharitaceae; Lythraceae;Podostemaceae; Pontederiaceae)

USABishop Museum (Department of Natural Sciences)- HawaiiDr George Staples -

[email protected](Convolvulaceae)

Iowa State University - Department of Botany(Ada Hayden Herbarium)Prof. Robert S. Wallace - [email protected]

(Molecular systematics and phylogeny ofAizoaceae s.l. (includingMesembryanthemaceae);Aloaceae/Asphodelaceae; Cactaceae;Didiereaceae; Nyctaginaceae;Phytolaccaceae; Portulacaceae)

University of California - Jepson HerbariumBruce Baldwin -

[email protected](Asteraceae: Blepharispermum,Welwitschiella)

University of Missouri-Columbia - Dunn-PalmerHerbarium (UMO)Dr P Leszek D Vincent - [email protected]

(Asteraceae: Senecio; Iridaceae: Aristea)

WALESNational Botanic Garden of WalesDr Charles Stirton -

[email protected](Fabaceae; Hyacinthaceae; Rosaceae;Verbenaceae)

Last updated 25 November 2000 ❏

14–17 January 2001R.A.U.

Auckland Park

Johannesburg

ADDRESSRand Afrikaans University

Department of Botany

PO Box 524

Auckland Park

2006

27th ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THESOUTH AFRICAN ASSOCIATION OF BOTANISTS

WEB SITEhttp://www.rau.ac.za/conf/saab2001


Tel: (011) 4892436

Fax: (011) 4892411

PLENARY SPEAKERSProf. Ermias Dagne (University of Addis Ababa,Ethiopia)

Dr Anthony Bleecker (University of Wisconsin,USA) ❏


Regional News Update

News from AngolaLuanda Herbarium attended the AETFAT meetingheld in Brussels with financial support fromSABONET.

Two posters were presented. The poster titled“Angolan Herbaria—New Prospects” focused ona brief historical review of the Angolan herbaria,present status and the main activities carried outwith SABONET funding. The new survey ofmedicinal plants with the SECOSUD (Service forEnvironmental Conservation of Biodiversity andDevelopment) project was also described. Itreferred to the contribution of the national her-baria to conservation of botanical diversity andgenetic resources in Angola.

The other poster, with the title “Floristic Analysisof Miombo Woodland in Huila—Angola”, fo-cused on field work carried out at Huila Provincein Angola. It dealt with floristic analysis ofMiombo vegetation. The main species encoun-tered were listed, and the habitat preferences ofdominant taxa were discussed. Moreover, degra-dation of the environment was briefly describedand some biological means for the recuperation ofthe degraded areas were formulated.

Computerisation of our herbarium specimens iscurrently focused on the genera Abrus, Acacia,Brachystegia, Cassia, Crotalaria, Indigofera andPeltophorum. ❏

Esperança da Costa

News from LesothoA Red Data List working session was held atROML from 24 to 25 May 2000. Fifty-two plantswere classified according to IUCN Categories andCriteria, although some were Data Deficient. Thesession was attended by three people from ourRoma and Maseru herbaria, one person from

Lesotho’s Conservation Division and two peoplewith a private interest. Certain recommendationswere made pertaining this working session:

1. Lesotho’s Red Data List plants should berevised because the number might increaseevery year.

2. Vegetation survey studies need to be con-ducted countrywide and monitored annually.

3. Photographs of Lesotho’s Red Data List plantsshould be taken during the survey.

The Lesotho National Working Group decided torotate SABONET staff. Khotso Kobisi has movedfrom MASE to ROML, Khotso Sepamo fromROML to SNPH, and Lekhooa Fokothi fromSNPH to MASE. Miss Puleng Matebesi wasrecruited to replace Mr Motebang Molise whoresigned from SABONET in July 2000.

Computerisation of herbarium specimens in theparticipating Lesotho herbaria is progressingwell. Currently 15 monocotyledon and 31 dicoty-ledon families have been fully computerised.

SABONET-Lesotho has nominated Ms BokangTheko for a BSc Hons course in systematics at theUniversity of the Orange Free State in SouthAfrica. Other people from Lesotho who havepreviously received fellowships from SABONETfor further studies are Mr P. Mafa and Ms L.Kose. ❏

Puleng Matebesi

News from SwazilandMany exciting developments have taken place inSABONET-Swaziland in recent times. A newappointment has been made, a connection fore-mail and Internet has been secured and a suc-cessful Red Data List Workshop has been held. Itis hoped that all these developments will propel

News from Angola

News from Lesotho


brought along) said it all. Sonja Loots asked HenkDauth to take a picture of us—and to make uslook glamorous. Ever-honest Henk simply ob-served that “it would be a bit difficult”. Well.Bang goes his career as resident photographer.Jokes aside, Henk is leaving us—he starts a newcareer as a missionary to children next month—and he will be sorely missed. We have threatenedto take him along on future field trips though,and this seems to be fine with him.

The second trip was aimed at assessing the statusof Aloe pillansii in Namibia. This was an extremelysuccessful trip and you will be reading all about itsoon. I might just mention that this species pre-fers only the highest mountains in the south—ittook ages just to reach the things, never mindassess them. However, at the rate of one popula-tion a day, we think we did a reasonable job, andwe are a lot fitter too, especially Henk and Sonja.Our SABONET vehicle was subjected to a majortest during the trip—we took it over MacMillan’sPass—and it passed (no pun intended) withflying colours. Going up as well as down we let itdrive itself in first gear, low range, releasing allpedals and using the choke to adjust revs. Thismethod works very well over extreme terrain,and it has the additional advantage of freeing uppart of your brain for making mental promises tobe a better person in future if you get throughalive. I must confess I would have preferred notto have been driving on alloy rims, yet if thechariot can make it there, it can make it any-where, as the song goes. As a reward for ourcourage we found another population ofA. pillansii.

Our plans for the near future include a trip toundercollected squares in the central-east(Omaheke Region) of Namibia—but this will onlybe in April next year. We are also looking forwardto getting our trainee, Silke Bartsch, back fromUCT. We hate being short of slaves.

We welcome Stefan Siebert and wish allSABONETeers a very happy festive season and agreat year ahead. ❏

Coleen Mannheimer

the work of the SABONET project in the countryto greater heights.

It is hereby announced that SABONET-Swazilandhas appointed Mr Comfort Nhleko as a Her-barium Data Specialist with effect from 1 Novem-ber 2000. Mr Nhleko holds a Diploma in Agricul-ture from the University of Swaziland. Hefinished his diploma in 1998 and before joiningthe herbarium he was employed as a temporaryteacher. With his appointment we hope the man-agement of the herbarium and the PRECIS data-base work will get a tremendous boost.

A Red Data List Workshop was held on 15 Sep-tember 2000. Fourteen participants attended theone-day workshop and all 198 species in the RedData List for Swaziland were re-assessed. ❏

Titus Dlamini

News from NamibiaWIND has had a busy time since the last updatein SABONET News. Data capture has progressedwell, and so have translations. The good progressmade has prompted us to start checking andcleaning our data, and we feel that this has been agood exercise. Many queries have been ad-dressed, and a large number of quarter-degreerecords have been checked and added. Our datacapture should be finished and the checkingprocess well in hand by the end of next year—sofor us the end is in sight. We are already reapingthe rewards of having our data on tap—field tripsare easier to plan, undercollected areas are high-lighted and the database has made a big contribu-tion towards the provision of a vegetation diver-sity map for the Namibian Atlas Project.

Although our main field season is about Februaryto May, we undertook two trips recently—one toDiamond Area No.1, and the other to an area justwest of that, but outside the restricted zone. Thefirst trip was somewhat extreme as regardsweather. We thought the wind could not possiblyget worse than it was at Pomona—until wereached Boegoeberg. Aus and Rosh Pinah hadhad snow, so temperatures were way down, andwhat we wore to bed at night (everything we had

News from Namibia


News from Zimbabwe

The National Herbarium and Botanic Garden ofZimbabwe has published a brochure entitledZimbabwe’s National Botanic Garden Map and Guide.This brochure, which was sponsored by theBotanic Garden Fund and Astra Limited, brieflydescribes all the sections of the Garden. Thebrochure has been complemented with the devel-opment of a nature trail, which highlights theprominent plant species in each section. Thebrochure is being sold at a cost of Z$50.00. Othernew developments include the purchase of atractor as well as the construction of a workers’kitchen complex that comprises a locker room, arest room and a kitchen. ❏

Soul Shava

Each edition of SABONET News is the result of a team effort, and the editorsthank the following people and organisations who have contributed to, andhelped in preparing, the 15 th issue of SABONET News:Filomena Barbosa Daan Botha Antoinette Burkhardt

Memory Chandinyira Christopher Chapano Augustine Chikuni

Esperança da Costa Mario Da Silva Sebsebe Demissew

Titus Dlamini Linda Dobson Emsie du Plessis

Hugh Glen Janice Golding Angela Gono

Carina Haasbroek Anthony Hitchcock Brian Huntley

Johan Hurter Samira Izidine Chris Kosolosky

MacImage Gillian Maggs-Kölling Coleen Mannheimer

Phelex Manyanga Anthony Mapaura Rina Marais

Angelina Martins Puleng Matebesi Nina Mössmer

Nancy Mugarisanwa David M. Mutigwa Mbaki Muzila

Nozipo Nobanda Erina Nyamhanga Florence Nyirenda

Ted Oliver Colin Paterson-Jones Patrick Phiri

Estelle Potgieter Thulo Qhotsokoane Jan Rammeloo

Nyasha Rukazhanga-Noko Annaniah Sakala Moffat Setshogo

Soul Shava Yashica Singh Gideon Smith

Ratidzayi Takawira Sandra Turck Vanilla! Design Studio

Noel van Rooyen Erich van Wyk Mienkie Welman

Rosemary Williams Carla Willis Christopher Willis

John Winter Diane Wyse Jackson

In the April 2001 edition ofSABONET News…

• SABONET Mid-Term Review

• Living collections: NationalBotanic Garden, Zimbabwe,andthe Botanic Gardens of Malawi

• Southern African herbaria:National Herbarium, Namibia

• Regional Plant Red Data List

• The Paper Chase

• Regional News Update


For further information related to the SABONETproject or contributions to SABONET News,

please contact:

Stefan Siebert or Marthina MössmerThe Editors

SABONET NewsNational Botanical Institute

Private Bag X101Pretoria 0001

SOUTH AFRICATel: (27) 12 804-3200

Fax: (27) 12 804-5979/3211Website: www.sabonet.org


SABONET News is published in April,August and December and distributedfree-of-charge to interested persons.Manuscripts submitted for publicationshould preferably be in English. Sub-missions for the next issue should reachthe editors before 1 March 2001. Theeditors would be grateful for materialsubmitted on diskette (preferably usingWordPerfect or MS Word) as well as anaccompanying hard copy. Articles canalso be submitted via e-mail. If possi-ble, please include black and whitephotographs, slides or line drawings toillustrate your material. Please captionall tables, figures and photographsclearly on a separate sheet. Each photo-graph or slide should be labelled with aphotographer credit. Each authorshould provide name, affiliation, postaladdress, telephone and fax numbers aswell as an e-mail address (if available).Contributors should study the mostrecent issues of SABONET News forstylistic conventions.

If you are not already on theSABONET News mailing list, or yourcontact details have changed, pleasecomplete this form and post or fax itto the SABONET Coordinator at (27)12 804-5979/3211.(E-mail: [email protected])

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SABONET News IS PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER.

Printing:Business Print Centre

Typesetting:Vanilla! Design Studio

This newsletter was made possiblethrough support provided by the GEF/UNDP (SABONET is a GEF projectimplemented by the UNDP) and theRegional Centre for Southern Africa,Gabarone, Botswana, US Agency forInternational Development (Plot no.14818, Lebatlane Road, GabaroneWest, Extension 6, Gabarone), underthe terms of the Grant No. 690-0283-A-00-5950. The opinions expressedherein are those of the authors and donot necessarily reflect the views of theUS Agency for International Develop-ment, the GEF/UNDP, the SABONETSteering Committe or the NationalWorking Groups.

SABONET News Vol. 5 No. 3 December 2000 · SABONET News Vol. 5 No. 3 December 2000 135 Editorial...

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