The SEOSAW network

SEOSAW is a network of scientists and vegetation survey plots across southern and eastern Africa. Members come from academic, government, and other institutions, unified by a shared interest in the changing socio-ecology of woodlands, savannas and dry forests. The long-term goal of SEOSAW is to understand the response of African woodlands to global change.

SEOSAW is managed communally. Its main purpose is to connect researchers and their data, and to facilitate collaborative research via standardised methods and a curated, accessible database. Anybody is welcome to become part of SEOSAW — by contributing data or expertise, or by using the SEOSAW dataset for their research.

The network includes two kinds of plots: 415 permanent sample plots (PSPs) where individual trees and stems are tagged and repeatedly remeasured over years or decades; and over 9748 one-off plots that document woodland structure and species distributions across 12 countries, with 315978 individual tree measurements and 113 researchers. The network is expanding geographically — into arid savannas, coastal East Africa, and towards western Africa — and is actively building towards African-managed distributed database nodes.

A network to understand the changing socio-ecology of the southern African woodlands

The 2021 Plants, People, Planet paper by the SEOSAW Partnership describes the rationale for the network, the six methodological challenges of working in African woodlands and savannas, and the way forward. It is the main reference for SEOSAW’s approach and the right starting point for understanding our methods.

The SEOSAW Partnership (2021). Plants, People, Planet, 3, 249–267. doi:10.1002/ppp3.10168

Our research priorities

SEOSAW has an evolving science plan that sets out current research priorities across the network — from plot remeasurement and carbon monitoring to social dimensions and data synthesis. The plan is a living document maintained by the Scientific Steering Committee.

Beyond the trees: our measurement protocols

SEOSAW has expanded well beyond tree measurements. The suite now covers trees & plot setup, small stems & shrubs (new in 2024), coarse woody debris, soil, ground layer biomass, plant traits, and social dimensions (in development). Used together, these protocols capture much of the biodiversity and biomass of woodland ecosystems. Available in English, Portuguese, French, and Kiswahili, and designed to be compatible with AfriTRON, DRYFLOR, and ForestPlots.net.

News and activities

SEOSAW is an active and growing community. Recent highlights:

• Expanding scope (2024) — SEOSAW hosted a workshop at Kruger National Park to integrate arid savannas and open woodlands into the network. The new small stems & shrubs protocol was launched and field-tested for the first time in Bicuar National Park, Angola.
• Growing the network (2025) — 8 new PSPs established in Zimbabwe’s Baikiaea woodlands (gazetted forests and communal land); new PSPs set up in coastal forests of Kenya and Tanzania as part of the Bio-Bridge project; a Zambia PSP workshop at Copperbelt University brought together around 20 researchers to strengthen the country’s plot network.
• Long-term data milestones — 21 PSPs in Kilwa, Tanzania were re-censused in late 2025 for their 5th and 6th time, extending a continuous dataset to 15 years. These long-running records are enabling new analyses: Gotore et al. (2026) used 30 years of growth rate data from Zimbabwe to directly inform sustainable harvesting rates for indigenous woodlands (Biotropica).
• Towards an African-managed network — Our third co-chair, Justice Muvengwi, based in South Africa was recently recruited; database nodes are being established at NUST (Namibia) and Wits (South Africa) to decentralise data management.

Regular newsletters go to the SEOSAW mailing list.