Kaapsehoop Biodiversity
Help record the living mountain
Help Record the Living Mountain
Kaapsehoop is more than a historic mountain village. Its grasslands, forest margins, rocky outcrops and escarpment support a remarkable diversity of living organisms.
Discover Kaapsehoop established the Kaapsehoop Mountain Biodiversity Record on iNaturalist as an ongoing citizen-science record of the plants, animals, fungi and other organisms encountered across the Kaapsehoop landscape.
Visitors, residents, hikers, photographers, birders and naturalists are invited to contribute. Every observation helps us build a better picture of the living mountain.
See it. Photograph it. Record it.
Become a Citizen Scientist
Never used iNaturalist? It takes a few minutes to start.
- Get the app. Download the free iNaturalist app, or create an account on the iNaturalist website.
- Photograph something wild. A plant, animal, insect, fungus or other organism you encounter in Kaapsehoop.
- Upload your observation with its location and date.
- Get help with the name. You don’t need to know the species. iNaturalist’s identification suggestions and community can help.
- Join the record. Observations that meet the Kaapsehoop project’s requirements become part of our growing biodiversity record.
Not every upload becomes “Research Grade”. That status depends on the iNaturalist community agreeing on an identification. Every observation with a clear photo, a date and a location is still useful.
Rocky Grasslands & Forest
Perched on the Mpumalanga Escarpment, the plateau holds a mosaic of rocky grasslands, forest margins, wetlands and high-altitude habitats — the foundation of its rich biodiversity.
Wildflowers & Plants
The mountain’s grasslands bloom with a shifting palette of wildflowers and specialised highveld plants through the seasons — a favourite for photographers and botanists alike.
Insects & Small Life
Butterflies, beetles, fungi and reptiles form the quieter layers of the ecosystem — every observation adds to the record of the mountain.
Citizen Science in Kaapsehoop
Two free apps, two kinds of record.
Birds → eBird
Birders can submit bird checklists and sightings through eBird. Kaapsehoop is an established birding destination beside the Blue Swallow Natural Heritage Site.
The wider living landscape → iNaturalist
Plants, mammals, insects, reptiles, amphibians, fungi and other organisms can be documented through iNaturalist and the Kaapsehoop Mountain Biodiversity Record.
Did You Know?
Kaapsehoop sits on the Mpumalanga escarpment’s high-altitude grasslands — among South Africa’s most species-rich yet least-protected landscapes. Every bird, flower or insect logged on iNaturalist or eBird adds to a living record of the mountain’s biodiversity.
Kaapsehoop joins the Great Southern BioBlitz 2026
Kaapsehoop falls within the geographic area of the existing Great Southern BioBlitz 2026: Lowveld iNaturalist project, which covers Ehlanzeni, Mpumalanga.
Discover Kaapsehoop has joined that project and will encourage residents and visitors to document biodiversity around Kaapsehoop during the four-day event.
The Kaapsehoop Mountain Biodiversity Record remains our permanent, year-round local project. The Great Southern BioBlitz: Lowveld is the wider, time-limited regional event. Please keep recording after 30 November.
You don’t need to be a scientist. You just need to be curious.