Herbaria & Biological Reference Collections
Natural history collections tell a valuable story of what occurred in an area from historical times to the present.
The specimens in these collections, provide locality data, collection date as well as habitat description and other relevant information. This data helps present day scientists and conservation staff make important management decisions, regarding biodiversity and protected area management.
Garden Route National Park (GRNP) Herbarium
The Garden Route National Park (GRNP) Herbarium was established in 1998 by the former Department of Water Affairs and Forestry’s (DWAF) scientific unit. The herbarium, based in Knysna, started with a small collection of 60 (duplicate) specimens received from the Saasveld Herbarium in George. The main purpose of the herbarium was to house indigenous forest species located in the department’s management areas in the southern Cape.
Since the amalgamation of the State Forests and the Tsitsikamma and Wilderness National Parks in 2005, all plant taxa (forest, fynbos and thicket vegetation) in the area and surrounding land are represented in the collection. Wetland plants are also represented although the collection is currently very small. The majority of the plant specimens have been collected during field trips, with significant contributions from J. Baard, N. Hanekom and G. McIlleron. Of the over 2100 plants on the GRNP’s plant species list, approximately 1430 species are present in the herbarium. The total collection comprises 2900 vouchers. These include all taxa of the terrestrial higher plants: clubmosses, ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms. A small collection of mosses is available. Alien plant species for the GRNP, of which there are approximately 255 species, are featured in the collection. Ironically, some of the more common species have yet to be added to the herbarium as focus has often been on the less known species.
The herbarium is open to researchers registered with SANParks. Most basic herbarium equipment is provided. Plant identification services are available and loaning of specimens to other herbaria can be arranged. Exchange of duplicate material may also be possible. Public may view plants by prior arrangement.
The herbarium is located in the Scientific Services offices, corner of Main road and Queen Street, Knysna. The herbarium was registered as a national herbarium and recorded in the SABONET Report Series 8 – Index herbariorum: southern African supplement, 2nd edition (1999).
For queries please contact:
Kimberley South African National Parks Herbarium (KSAN)
What is today known as the Kimberley South African National Parks Herbarium (KSAN) was established in 1992 with the amalgamation of several informal herbaria scattered across various parks, namely: Vaalbos (since deproclaimed and being replaced by Mokala National Park), Kalahari Gemsbok, Addo Elephant and Mountain Zebra National Parks (NPs). The original collection of over 1750 plant specimens, some of which had been collected in the 1940s, was temporarily based at Dalham House in Kimberley. Several years later, in 2001, the collection was transferred to its current premises in the Scientific Services offices. During the same year the herbarium was registered as an international herbarium and became formally known as the Kimberley South African National Parks Herbarium.
Today, plant specimens from all national parks except the Garden Route and Kruger NPs are housed at KSAN in individual herbarium cabinets. Every year new specimens are added to the collection which currently comprises 16320 specimens and is of intrinsic historical and scientific value. In addition to the inestimable benefit of aiding in the identification of plant species collected by SANParks researchers and visiting scientists, the herbarium:
- provides a record of plant species that occur in these parks, including rare and endangered species, some of which have not been found again, and alien plant species, and
- assists in taxonomic studies and revisions of specific plant families, or genera.
Standard information such as date and location of collection, scientific name, details of substrate on and habitat in which it was found are recorded for each plant specimen, together with its medicinal status, and kept in the relevant file. The information and photographs of each specimen are captured electronically in the Photographic Field Guide Herbarium. By searching through the options provided in the identification key, users are able to identify plant species they have seen. The program has recently been upgraded and will soon be available in a number of parks (Kalahari Gemsbok, Namaqua , Karoo and Augrabies Falls NPs) to researchers and park visitors.
Additionally, a Field Guide Herbarium has been developed for each of the above parks. The guides are primarily used by staff for field identification but are available on request to scientists visiting the parks.
For queries please contact:

Dr Hugo Bezuidenout
Scientist: Vegetation Classification
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +27 (0)53 832 5488
Kruger National Park (KNP) – Skukuza Biological Reference Collection
The Skukuza Biological Reference Collection was founded in the 1950s with the establishment of the first official research unit in SANParks. Today the collection houses over 31 000 preserved animal and plant specimens.
The main purpose of the reference collection is to provide an identification service to visiting researchers, staff and private nature reserves.The available material is also used for taxonomic and anatomical research, during the compilation of reference books and to monitor spatial and temporal changes in the distribution of species in the collection.
Information relevant to the specimens collected is captured in a digital bio-ecological database. This includes the date and locality of collection, habitat details and specimen information and details. To date 14 922 plant specimens and 7 164 zoological specimens have been electronically captured.
In addition to the biological collection, an archive of scientific publications pertaining to Kruger National Park is available. The collection consists of hard and electronic copies, where possible, of all peer-reviewed articles and other types of publications relating to the park, copies of dissertations based on research undertaken in the park, internal scientific reports and paper copies of raw field data from research projects.
For queries please contact:
Email: [email protected]