The African Arachnida Database (AFRAD) is an initiative that was started in 1997, and aims to serve as an information system on the Arachnida of the Afrotropical Region - an umbrella project dedicated to the unification and enhancement of biosystematics research on arachnids in Africa and the adjacent islands. It is committed to help conserve the biological diversity of African arachnids through the improvement of scientific knowledge. Participation is based on free association and collaboration, and gives specialists of the various arachnid groups the opportunity to manage and co-ordinate their own field of expertise while receiving full credit for their inputs.
AFRAD was initiated in 1997 by the ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, Pretoria, South Africa and the Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika in Tervuren, Belgium. |