1. Flora Zambesiaca (FZ) SAPP PROJECT WP2 EXAMPLES OF ONLINE DATABASES
SEPASAL
(Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands)
PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa)
[African Wild Harvest project]

2. Flora Zambesiaca (FZ) www.kew.org/floras/fz/intro.html
c. 10,200 species
77% published
Native and naturalised species
Search by
- Taxon Name
- FZ Country
- Endemism
- Habit
- Altitude
- Habitat
Keys for identification
Uses in Notes
The regional Flora for South Central Africa is Flora Zambesiaca
It started in 1960 and was designed to provide a catalogue of the plant species of the region and a means of identifying them.
A number of partner institutions have been involved over the years, including national herbaria in the region, Kew and institutions in Portugal.
It covers both native and naturalised species and ¾ complete.
All published parts are searchable on the web.
Zambezi River Basin: Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Caprivi Strip (Namibia)

3. SEPASAL (SURVEY OF ECONOMIC PLANTS FOR ARID AND SEMI-ARID LANDS)
Useful wild and semi-domesticated species
Tropical and subtropical drylands
Focus on Africa
> 6600 species so far, of which > 3000 occur in Africa
Fully searchable on Internet
Major international project started at Kew in the early 1980s
Documents and disseminates information on uses and use-related properties of wild and semi-domesticated plants.
Covers tropical and subtropical drylands (i.e. arid and semi-arid lands) with a focus on Africa.
Currently contains information on more than 6600 species, of which c. 50% occur in Africa.
Data are fully searchable on the Internet.
Widely used by researchers, NGOs, government depts. in support of conservation and sustainable use projects. One of its uses has been in helping to set targets for seed collecting in the Millennium Seed Bank project.

4. SEPASAL Data Fields Vernacular and trade names
Scientific names (incl. synonyms)
Vernacular and trade names
Geographical distribution
Uses
Use-related properties (e.g. habit,
chemical analyses)
Environmental tolerances and
habitat
Notes fields (e.g. detail on uses,
ecology, cultivation, harvesting)
References
The kinds of information recorded include (see slide):
Uses, geographical distribution, and plant families and genera follow internationally accepted classification schemes.
E.g., the Economic Botany Data Collection standard includes 13 major use terms (such as Food, Animal Food, Medicines, Non-Vertebrate Poisons etc.) each of which are subdivided into standard terms for the part of the plant used and the types of use. (I’ll come back to this in more detail.)
All the terms are searchable (from the very simple – such as simply typing in the plant name, or selecting a use) or can be combined into more complex queries. So for example a list of herbs for Malawi that tolerate sandy soils and are insect-repellent.
In addition Notes fields enable more detailed information to be recorded on uses (for example a use may be restricted to a particular area or ethnic group), cultivation details, harvesting and processing techniques for example.
Information on SEPASAL is extracted from published sources. Individual items of data are referenced (currently 4300 data sources).
Tephrosia vogelii, the fish bean or fish poison plant, recorded on SEPASAL, has both insecticidal and acaricidal properties Photo: Paul Latham

5. TDWG Level 1 Use Categories
Food
Food Additives
Animal Food
Bee Plants
Invertebrate Food
Fuels
Materials
Social Uses
Vertebrate Poisons
Non-Vertebrate Poisons
Medicines
Environmental Uses
Gene Sources
Uses of plants are recorded according to the TDWG standard. This is a hierarchical system. There are 13 Level 1 use categories, of which the use of plants as Vertebrate and Non-Vertebrate Poisons are the most relevant to the SAPP project. If we look at Non-Vertebrate Poisons in more detail…..

6. SPECIFIC ORGANISMS AFFECTED
POISONOUS PLANT PARTS
SPECIFIC ORGANISMS AFFECTED
EFFECT OF POISON
USE OF POISONS
UNSPECIFIED NON-VERTEBRATES
e.g. leaves
- young leaves
e.g. repellent
e.g. livestock pest control
ARTHROPODA
seeds
- entire seeds
e.g. Insecta
- Diptera
reproduction
inhibitor
disease vector control
MOLLUSCA
- testa
antifeedant
plant pest control
OTHER EUMETAZOA
- seed oil
Annelida
mutagenic
stored products protection
PROTOZOA
infructescences
Microspora
VIRUSES
inflorescences
BACTERIA
- flowers
Gram +/ -
plant disease control
FUNGI
- flower buds
death
PLANTS
leaves
- fallen leaves
Angiosperms
growth
weed control
This table shows the Level 2 and Level 3 categories for Non-Vertebrate Poisons. The table is populated with just a few examples of the terms available (at Level 3 and 4) for recording specific uses in SEPASAL.

7. Cleome gynandra L. [549] CAPPARACEAE Synonyms Vernacular names
Cleome pentaphylla L. Cleome heterotricha Burch. Gynandropsis pentaphylla (L.)DC. Gynandropsis heterotricha (Burch.)DC. Gynandropsis gynandra (L.)Briq.
Vernacular names
Damara (Namibia) !Khauro.b [5095], !hunihai.b [5095]
Damara/Nama (Namibia) goma/horob [5083] [5095] [5098], gomabeb [5083] [5095] [5098]
English (Kenya) bastard mustard [2719], cat's whiskers [2719], spider flower [2719],
spider herb [2719]
English (Namibia) spider-wisp [5098]
English (South Africa) African spider flower [5873], bastard mustard [5873], cat's whiskers
[5873], spider wisp [5873], spider-wisp [5303] [5304]
Pedi (Southern Africa) lerotho [1171]
Pokot (Kenya) karelmet [2719], suriya [2719], suriyo [2719]
Photo: AVRDC
The World Vegetable Center

8. CLEOME GYNANDRA : EXAMPLES OF DESCRIPTORS IN SEPASAL Category
Descriptors and States
DESCRIPTION
Terrestrial; Herb [3] [549] [5303]; Annual [3] [1142] [1171] [1210]; Erect [2] [488]; Taproot Present [5345]; Partial Outbreeding [5345]; Fast Growth Rate [5188]; Foetid/Unpleasant - leaves [488] [1301] [1610]; Foetid/Unpleasant - unspecified parts [5345]; Plant Height <= 1.3 m [3] [1210] [2719]
SOILS
Deep [5188]; Shallow [1362]; Acid [5188]; Neutral [5188]; Boulders/Rocky [1362]; Sandy [5188]; Loams [5188]; Clays [5188]; Peat/Organic Substrates [2719]; Well Drained [5188]
HABITAT
Anthropogenic Landscapes [162] [1362] [5303]; Woodland [1362]; Shrubland/Bushland/Scrub [1362]; Grassland/Forb-Land [5303]; Pioneer [1362]; Altitude m a.s.l. [1362]
PHYSIOLOGY
C4 [5188] [5345]; Drought Tolerant [5873]
PRODUCTION AND VALUE
Wild Plants Utilised [5188]; 'Semi-Domesticated' Plants Utilised [1362] [1674] [5188] [5873]; Undergoing Cultivation Trials [5873]; Minor Crop/Forestry Species [5188] [5345]; Recommended for Cultivation [5873]; Subsistence Value [5188]
CONSTRAINTS
Weed [162] [1362] [5188]; Agricultural Weed [162] [1171]
CHEMICAL ANALYSES
Nutritional Analyses - leaves [187] [1610] [5188]; Essential Oil Analyses - seeds [84] [488] [1142]; Nutritional Analyses - unspecified parts [1610] [5345]; Other Analyses - unspecified parts [997]; Antinutritional Factors - entire plant [5188]; Poisonous Compounds - leaves [5188]; Antinutritional Factors - leaves [549] [1610] [5188]; Poisonous Compounds - seeds [5188]; Poisonous Compounds - unspecified parts [1142] [5188]; Vitamin A (carotene) - leaves [5188]; Vitamin B1 (thiamine) - leaves

9. CLEOME GYNANDRA : EXAMPLES OF USES TERMS RECORDED IN SEPASAL
NON-VERTEBRATE POISONS
Arthropoda
Anoplura (lice), seeds, death, vermin control [549] [997] [1610];
Insecta, death [5345];
Insecta, death, plant pest control [5345];
Insecta, leaves, death, plant pest control [5345];
Insecta, leaves, repellent, plant pest control [5345];
Acari (mites/ticks), seeds, death, livestock pest control [5345];
Coleoptera, seeds, death [5188]; Homoptera (aphids etc.), seeds, death [5188];
Lepidoptera (butterflies/moths), death [5188];
Hemiptera (bugs), death [5188]; Lepidoptera (butterflies/moths), antifeedant [5188];
Acari (mites/ticks), seeds, repellent [5188]; Acari (mites/ticks), seeds, death [5188]
MEDICINES
Unspecified Medicinal Disorders
leaves, humans, oral ingestion [2719]; leaves, humans, baths [2719]
Blood System Disorders
leaves, humans, anaemia [5188]
Digestive System Disorders
humans, purgative [1610]; leaves, humans, stomach [1610] [5095]; roots, humans, stomach [1610]; humans, constipation, oral ingestion [2719] [5188]; humans, stomach [5345]; leaves, humans, stomach, oral ingestion

10. CLEOME GYNANDRA : EXAMPLE OF FREE TEXT NOTES DEALING WITH
NON-VERTEBRATE POISONS
NON-VERTEBRATE POISONS - ARTHROPODA
Acari, leaves, repellent, death: The leaves have anti-tick properties. They have repellent and acaricidal properties for larvae, nymphs and adult Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and Amblyomma variegatum ticks. Ticks may not be found for a distance of 2-5 m from the plant [5188] .
Coleoptera, Homoptera, seeds, death: The extract from the mature seeds is toxic to brinjal aphid (Aphis gossypii Glov.) and the larvae of Heliothis armigera (bollworm) [5188] .
Insecta, leaves, death, repellent, plant pest control: Spiderplants are known for their insecticidal and insect-repellent characteristics. Sprays of aqueous leaf extracts may cause considerable reduction in aphid and thrip populations. When used as an intercrop with cabbages, there was found to be a profound effect on diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella L., populations of which are considerably reduced when on when one row of cabbages was alternated with one row of spiderplants [5345] .
Lepidoptera, anti-feedant: The plant has an anti-feedant action against the tobacco caterpillar (Spodoptera litura F.) [5188] .
Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, death: The ethanol extract is toxic to insect pests, such as the painted bug (Bagrada cruciferarum Kirk) and the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) of cruciferous vegetables [5188] .

11. SEPASAL Partner Nodes in Africa
National Museums of Kenya
National Botanical Research
Institute, Namibia
Hardware and editing software
Training
Data capture
Dissemination of data
-Locally
-Regionally
-Globally
Until recently SEPASAL was an entirely Kew-based project.
In 2002 the first regional node was established in Kenya, at the National Museums of Kenya. A 2nd node was established in 2004 in Namibia.
The partnerships include the provision of computer hardware and editing software to enable existing data on SEPASAL to be edited and supplemented by data from locally published data sources.
The nodes have improved the availability of the data both locally, regionally and globally. At the local and regional levels, the nodes act as resource centres, providing access to information through printed materials and the expertise of the staff themselves. At the global level, the information is available via the Internet.

12. Internet SEPASAL Global Editing
End User
Data flow
Live SEPASAL
Database
Optional
Feedback
Data Validator
Data accepted or
rejected
Data contribution
Data checked
This is a model to show how data are added to SEPASAL via software developed at Kew called Global Editing, allowing the teams in Kenya and Namibia to edit and contribute data to SEPASAL.
Data for a particular species is downloaded on to the users local hard drive. The data are edited off-line, then contributed. Once the data are checked, the data validator can then accept or reject the changes.
The validator will then re-connects and uploads the changes to the database, and the updated information is then accessible to users via the web.
Contributor X
Contributor Y
(Published) data source
(Published) data source

13. MALAWI / ZAMBIA / ZIMBABWE
Species in SEPASAL in FZ region recorded with Non-Vertebrate Poison Uses
( ) = species in woodlands
FZ REGION
MALAWI / ZAMBIA / ZIMBABWE
Total
Indigenous
Non-Vert. Poisons
116 (69)
108 72
Arthropoda
80 (45) 76 46
- Insecta
61 (39) 58 35
Mollusca
37 (26) 33 27
Fungi
7 (3) 7 2
Plants
1 (0) 1
So far the nodes have updated about 700 East African species and 600 Namibian species on SEPASAL.
Although the SAPP project countries are not the specific focus of the work of the nodes, there are nevertheless already quite a number of plants included in SEPASAL which occur in the target countries of the SAPP project with recorded Non-Vertebrate Poison uses.
These figures include trees and shrubs as well as herbs.

14. Dissemination 206 out of 1410 currently registered users are in Africa
SEPASAL is used by a range of users from scientific researchers, to governmental departments, NGOs and aid agencies, to the general public.
This graph shows the number of species reports downloaded from the web by non-Kew users since 1999.
Prior going live on the Internet (1999), the number of reports mailed out to users each year was in the region of
The no. of reports downloaded by non-Kew users in 2006 exceeded 6000.
A growing number of users are in Africa
206 out of 1410 currently registered users are in Africa

15. PLANT RESOURCES OF TROPICAL AFRICA (PROTA)
Scattered information made widely accessible
7000 Tropical African species
Inform and support sustainable plant use
Identifying opportunities to use plants
Kew is a partner in PROTA, an international project coordinated from Wageningen University.
It aims to synthesize scattered published information on 7,000 useful plants of Tropical Africa - both wet and dry tropics.
It has a network of offices in 10 partner countries, including 7 in Africa. The network office in the U.K. is here at Kew, and there is an office in Malawi at the National Herbarium and Botanic Gardens at Zomba. There is also a Contact Person for Zambia.
Network of offices in countries; 7 in Africa

16. PROTA Handbooks and Databases
Supporting databases
WORLDREFS – 370,000 references
AFRIREFS (“Grey” literature) –
170,000 references
PROTA provides users with review articles which are a synthesis of information on the uses, ecology, and management, published as a series of Handbooks and as online encyclopedia, a series of Handbooks, CD-ROMs and Special Products recommending species for conservation, research and further development.
About 600 species have been published so far in 3 volumes, each covering a separate commodity group (of which there are 16). The first handbook dealt with Vegetables; work on Medicinal Plants and Timbers is underway. As volumes are published the information is added to the online encyclopedia (PROTABASE).
Species are assigned to whichever volume deals with the Major Use of that plant. So here for example, Cleome gynandra is published in the Vegetables volume, but the section on Uses will review both Major and Secondary uses of the species.
PROTA maintains several “behind-the-scenes” databases to support the production of the Handbooks. Among them are 2 bibliographic databases. WORLDREFS contains citations and abstracts of over 370,000 globally-available publications. AFRIREFS contains over 17,000 citations and abstracts of publications with limited availability (“grey” literature), gathered by the network of offices in Africa, France and the U.K. The PROTA-UK office here at Kew has responsibility to contribute records to these databases from materials held at Kew and institutions throughout the UK.
Each Handbook is complemented by a PROTA Special Product that draws conclusions and makes recommendations on plant use and development.
From there PROTA actively engages with local-level plant users, and has begun funding several small field projects translating the information into practical knowledge on the ground to improve the standards of living of smallholder farmers and support to women’s groups in improving food security.
Species review articles published in handbooks and online

17. AFRICAN WILD HARVEST Legal Agreement signed between NMK and RBG Kew
Project outputs agreed
and Prior Informed
Consent (PIC) signed
with communities
African Wild Harvest aims to promote the conservation and sustainable use of traditional food plants for diet diversification and improved nutrition in Africa.
It began in 2004 building on the links established in Kenya at the National Museums of Kenya, and working with 2 rural communities in western Kenya (representing about 25 farmer’s groups consisting of 500 families) to document indigenous knowledge of traditional food crops, bringing together both local knowledge and published scientific information with the aim of developing a series of manuals on priority species for use by the communities involved, and for distribution to neighbouring communities when seeds or plants are exchanged.
The aim eventually is to replicate the work elsewhere.
This shows a community workshop prioritising some of the species to be included in the project.
The work has taken place in strict accordance with the Convention on Biological Diversity. So prior to work taking place, a legal agreement was signed between Kew and NMK on behalf of the Kenyan Government, and written prior informed consent was drawn up and signed with the communities, to ensure that community participation is based on mutually agreed outputs and benefit-sharing. PIC outlined the work to be undertaken, and obligations of collaborators and communities, and what can and cannot be done with information collected.
One of the key points is that local knowledge documented in the project is not put on the internet in SEPASAL, unless all the parties agree.
Traditional food plants used by the BIDII Women’s Group, Western Kenya Photo: Rory McBurney

18. Although AWH is concerned with food plants ultimately the aims are similar to the SAPP project – in that what we’re trying to conserve is plant diversity, and combine local and scientific knowledge for the improvement of rural livelihhods.