Snapshot Safari’s coverage includes ‘supersites’ which are sites with enhanced ability to measure and monitor 𝛽-diversity. We also currently expand the platform’s detection capability by adding temperature sensors and acoustic recording devices. We will further expand detection at platforms by conducting bio-blitzes and collecting DNA from scats for metabarcoding. We have also started to create an additional data processing hub at the Centre for High-Performance Computing supercomputer where data can be managed and stored so that the project is run and managed within SA, building capacity in the biodiversity sector.
Snapshot Safari has established a highly effective baseline monitoring platform over the last 3 years with cutting edge technology, a large established citizen scientist and researcher network, as well as novel data processing capabilities. We are developing it further to produce a wider variety of biodiversity data which will be even better in serving the biodiversity sector in South Africa. Locally, the data improves checklists of species on reserves, provides a baseline for monitoring change in the environment over time, from various drivers, and increases our knowledge of the biology and behavior of cryptic and crepuscular species. The data will feed directly into national priority programmes and projects, such as protected area planning, threatened species conservation, and for mitigating risks such as from poaching or over-exploitation.
Wildlife Ecology Lab 