---
title: "Citizen science"
chunk: 15/19
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_science"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:48:48.750305+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

In South Africa (SA), citizen science projects include: the Stream Assessment Scoring System (miniSASS) which "encourages enhanced catchment management for water security in a climate stressed society."
The South African National Biodiversity Institute is partnered with iNaturalist as a platform for biodiversity observations using digital photography and geolocation technology to monitor biodiversity. Such partnerships can reduce duplication of effort, help standardise procedures and make the data more accessible.
Also in SA, "Members of the public, or 'citizen scientists' are helping researchers from the University of Pretoria to identify Phytophthora species present in the fynbos."
In June 2016, citizen science experts from across East Africa gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, for a symposium organised by the Tropical Biology Association (TBA) in partnership with the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH). The aim was "to harness the growing interest and expertise in East Africa to stimulate new ideas and collaborations in citizen science." Rosie Trevelyan of the TBA said: "We need to enhance our knowledge about the status of Africa's species and the threats facing them. And scientists can't do it all on their own. At the same time, citizen science is an extremely effective way of connecting people more closely to nature and enrolling more people in conservation action".
The website Zooniverse hosts several African citizen science projects, including: Snapshot Serengeti, Wildcam Gorongosa and Jungle Rhythms.
Nigeria has the Ibadan Bird Club whose to aim is to "exchange ideas and share knowledge about birds, and get actively involved in the conservation of birds and biodiversity."
In Namibia, Giraffe Spotter.org is "project that will provide people with an online citizen science platform for giraffes".
Within the Republic of the Congo, the territories of an indigenous people have been mapped so that "the Mbendjele tribe can protect treasured trees from being cut down by logging companies". An Android open-source app called Sapelli was used by the Mbendjele which helped them map "their tribal lands and highlighted trees that were important to them, usually for medicinal reasons or religious significance. Congolaise Industrielle des Bois then verified the trees that the tribe documented as valuable and removed them from its cutting schedule. The tribe also documented illegal logging and poaching activities."
In West Africa, the eradication of the recent outbreak of Ebola virus disease was partly helped by citizen science. "Communities learnt how to assess the risks posed by the disease independently of prior cultural assumptions, and local empiricism allowed cultural rules to be reviewed, suspended or changed as epidemiological facts emerged." "Citizen science is alive and well in all three Ebola-affected countries. And if only a fraction of the international aid directed at rebuilding health systems were to be redirected towards support for citizen science, that might be a fitting memorial to those who died in the epidemic."
The CitSci Africa Association held its  International Conference in February 2024 in Nairobi.

=== Asia ===