The South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA) is an umbrella project dedicated to the unification of biodiversity research on spiders in South Africa. It runs on a national basis in collaboration with institutions that have an interest in the arachnid fauna of South Africa. The aim is to collect, describe and document the spider fauna for conservation assessments and sustainable use. It addresses aspects such as research, surveys, training of post-graduate students, raising awareness by way of books, talks and lecture series, as well as the production of identification guides, posters and a newsletter.