 The overall goal of research at Gobabeb is to improve the understanding of arid land ecosystems, particularly their variability, with a focus on supporting well-trained specialists and decision-makers in southern Africa and the world.Gobabeb has been the locus of much of the basic research on Namib desert organisms and, more broadly, into the ecology of southern African deserts and arid land.Every year over 100 scientists visit Gobabeb to undertake research and in the past 50 years, over 1900 publications has been produced at Gobabeb.