Proposals

This project is a collaboration between the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment (GMBA) of DIVERSITAS, University of Basel, Switzerland. The project addresses a strong need for stronger collaboration in communication, data standardisation and data interpretation with respect to the information on biodiversity, climate and physiography that is being collected on six of the major African mountain ranges. This follows the implementation of a number of so-called "mountain observatories" in Africa, initiated by the Mountain Research Initiative and GMBA. The University of Pretoria is in a strong position to take the lead in such an initiative because of strong links with many African countries, a complete set of scientific and technical infrastructure and since a significant part of tertiary training for the whole continent takes place in South Africa.