South Africa’s citizen scientists did a good job at recording species in this year’s Great Southern BioBlitz!
South Africa (23 November 2025) – The Great Southern BioBlitz is an event where communities, naturalists, and scientists work together to document as many species as possible within a four-day window.
This year, over 200 regions across the Southern Hemisphere joined together to record and celebrate biodiversity.
There were over 294,000 observations made in the Southern Hemisphere – across Africa, South America, and Oceania. In Africa alone, 123,632 observations were made, with South Africa’s citizen scientists making up 52,387 of that total. More than any other African country.
According to iNaturlist, the platform on which observations are recorded, the Western Cape led with over 26,000 observations of more than 3000 species. Over half of those observations came from the Overstrand, with the region racking in over 15,000 recordings. Reports have stated it’s the most recorded globally for this year’s event.
KwaZulu-Natal also stood out with the highest number of observers in the country! In South Africa, a total of 1468 people participated, with 470 observers hailing from the KZN.
The Eastern Cape was not far behind, with 8,131 observations of 1,553 species made by 202 observers.
Overall, in Southern Africa, over 528 threatened species were recorded, including many Red List plants from the fynbos and grassland biomes. Over 400 observations of invasive plants were also made, helping track species that threaten biodiversity.
When it comes to identifiers (the people who help ID the species from photos submitted by citizen scientists), over 2,463 people contributed towards South Africa’s records.
“Each record helps us understand and protect biodiversity across the Southern Hemisphere. Thank you to everyone who has contributed, from those out in the field taking photos to the dedicated identifiers helping refine our data!” shares the organisation.
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