Digitized collections’ data are critical in mapping out strategies for biodiversity conservation and to monitor changes caused by climatic changes in the future. This project seeks to conduct fieldwork in the Somabhula grassland (Debshan and Jabulani) in the Shangani area and to digitize Zimbabwean arachnids and herpetological records from Mozambique and Zimbabwe that are housed in the National Collection of the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe.  New specimens from field work in the Somabhula grassland will be added to the collections progressively.  The field surveys will be achieved through training university students and Mozambican personnel as future conservationists.

The new Somabhula specimens will add data to fill gaps in the species records for this unique grassland ecosystem, and older data will be mobilized to add a depth of biodiversity knowledge for the sites. The updated and expanded checklists and occurrence datasets for Zimbabwe will increase awareness and understanding of fauna, and will elevate documentation of their habitat to enable biodiversity conservation. Mozambique’s checklist and occurrence data will provide much-needed enlargement of the country’s poorly documented biodiversity records.

The Somabhula Grassland Biodiversity Surveys and Capacity-building for Mozambique and Zimbabwe project identifies seven core objectives:

1. Digitization of the metadata of spiders and scorpions (Arachnids 5,000) of Zimbabwe; Zimbabwe new data, herpetofauna of Mozambique 5,000 reptiles and amphibians of collections in the Natural History Museum.
2. Adding knowledge and contribute towards the understanding of the diversity of grassland of Somabhula grassland (Debshan Ranch and Jabulani Safaris).
3. Prepare and publish checklists of the data mobilized.
4. Prepare and publish occurrence datasets for the different taxa in Zimbabwe and Mozambique on the public platform of GBIF.
5. Training 10 students local students and 4 Mozambique personnel in data capturing, cleaning, georeferencing, publishing, taxonomy, and surveys.
6. Education: Engage local schools (primary and secondary) in seminars to convey the importance of biodiversity knowledge in the study area. 
7. Publish a joint photographic field guide of arachnids and herpetofauna collected and observed in Somabhula grassland.

Dr. Moira FitzPatrick joined the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe as Curator of Arachnids in 1991. Her first undertaking was research on Scorpions as a number of deaths from stings occur each year.  She completed her Doctorate of Philosophy, studying the African Spider genus Zelotes, in 2004.  Over the years Dr. FitzPatrick has published many scientific and popular articles and given many talks on the arachnid fauna. In 2012 she was promoted to Regional Director of the Natural History Museum and has continued her research, receiving funding from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility in 2017 and 2020. She is also the Zimbabwe focal person for the iNaturalist biodiversity data platform.

Shiela Broadley has over 30 years of experience with the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe and is currently the Curator of Herpetology responsible for the National Collection; this involves digitizing specimen data for easy access, management and collection curation. She carries out field work in different parts of the country and publishes regularly on herpetofauna. Broadley has been part of several projects funded by the European Union (BID) and Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and in 2023-2024 she successfully completed a grant from JRS Biodiversity Foundation as Lead Investigator in the project involving biodiversity field surveys in Beitbridge.