Citizen science in South Africa: a personal perspective

Abstract

The author recalls some of the achievements of the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project and other citizen science projects that were run by the Animal Demography Unit (then the Avian Demography Unit, ADU). The traditional motivation for such projects is cast into doubt, given that expansion of species-conservation programmes is unlikely to occur in an era when there are so many competing crises in the South Africa and the world. Notwithstanding this cautionary stance, the author suggests that citizen science does, in fact, have an important role to play through engagement, documentation and education. He furthermore suggests that the value of these aspects is likely to become manifest in the future, rather than the present. The discussion concludes with an overview of the type of organizational structure required to maximise the usefulness and impact of citizen science.