Description: <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;font-size:12pt"><DIV><DIV><P><SPAN>The data used consist of the </SPAN><SPAN>Department of Agriculture </SPAN><SPAN>2016 Land Capability dataset which categorises all land nationally into 15 different classes of agricultural land capability. </SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></DIV>
Description: <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;font-size:12pt"><DIV><P><SPAN>The data used consist of the </SPAN><SPAN>2023</SPAN><SPAN> Field Crop Boundary datasets which delineates the boundaries of all cultivated land, based on satellite and aerial imagery. </SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
Description: <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;font-size:12pt"><P STYLE="margin:0 0 0 0;"><SPAN>The Protected Agricultural Areas (Source: DALRRD, 2023) is defined as a</SPAN><SPAN> </SPAN><SPAN>cartographic delineated area of agricultural land, preserved for purposes of ensuring high value agricultural land is protected against non- agricultural land uses in order to promote long-term agricultural production and food security.</SPAN></P><P STYLE="margin:0 0 0 0;"><SPAN>PAAs are therefore regarded as large, relative homogeneous portions of high value agricultural land that has the potential to sustainably, in the long-term, contribute significantly to the production of food.</SPAN></P></DIV>
Description: Maps of Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBA) and Ecological Support Areas (ESA), referred to as CBA Maps, are developed using systematic biodiversity planning principles (representation, persistence, connectivity, setting quantitative biodiversity targets and conflict avoidance). These maps identify important biodiversity priority areas within the respective administrative boundaries and in the country all the provinces have developed the maps of Critical Biodiversity Areas. The maps of Critical Biodiversity Areas identify both terrestrial and aquatic themes. However, not all provinces have identified and distinguish both terrestrial and aquatic CBA. The Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, and North West provinces as well as Ekurhuleni municipality, have identified and developed the aquatic CBA Maps. The maps identify important freshwater biodiversity priority areas. They also identify CBA Map subcategories that distinguish features used (i.e., wetlands, rivers, FEPA sub catchment, etc.). During the merging of the provincial CBA Map to create a single wall-to-wall layer further analysis were performed. The analysis undertaken standardized CBA Map categories identified within the attribute table. This was due to inconsistency observed from various plans developed when it comes to reporting the information within the attribute table. The final layer developed represented was a wall-to-wall aquatic CBA Map that show all the CBA Map categories and subcategories as identified by the various provinces. The composite map of Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBA) and Ecological Support Areas (ESA) for aquatic theme. The map was created from merging all the provincial aquatic CBA Maps.
Description: This is the final National Wetland Map version 5 (NWM5) that was issued on 3 October 2019 with the launch of the National Biodiversity Assessment of 2018 (NBA 2018). This dataset forms part of the South African Inventory of Inland Aquatic Ecosystems (SAIIAE) and the report should be cited:Van Deventer, H., Smith-Adao, L., Mbona, N., Petersen, C., Skowno, A., Collins, N.B., Grenfell, M., Job, N., Lötter, M., Ollis, D., Scherman, P., Sieben, E. & Snaddon, K. 2018. South African National Biodiversity Assessment 2018: Technical Report. Volume 2a: South African Inventory of Inland Aquatic Ecosystems (SAIIAE). Version 3, final released on 3 October 2019. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI): Pretoria, South Africa. Report Number: CSIR report number CSIR/NRE/ECOS/IR/2018/0001/A; SANBI report number http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12143/5847.If the Estuaries are used, please citeVan Niekerk, L., Adams, J.B., Lamberth, S.J., MacKay, F., Taljaard, S., Turpie, J.K., Weerts S. & Raimondo, D.C., 2019 (eds). South African National Biodiversity Assessment 2018: Technical Report. Volume 3: Estuarine Realm. CSIR report number CSIR/SPLA/EM/EXP/2019/0062/A. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. Report Number: SANBI/NAT/NBA2018/2019/Vol3/A. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12143/6373.
Description: The layer codes for River Freshwater Ecosystem Priority Areas (FEPAs) and
associated sub-quaternary catchments, Fish Support Areas and associated subquaternary
catchments and Upstream Management Areas.
Note:
This GIS layer codes:
• River Freshwater Ecosystem Priority Areas (FEPAs) and associated
sub-quaternary catchments
• Fish Support Areas and associated sub-quaternary catchments
• Upstream Management Areas
FEPAs for wetlands and wetland clusters are provided in the wetland GIS
layers (NFEPA_Wetlands_30Jul11.shp and Wetcluster_30Jul11.shp).
Description: This is the most recent version of the Estuarine Functional Zone Map. The map was developed
as a collaborative effort and delineates the Estuarine Functional Zone for South Africa (Van
Niekerk et al. 2019).
In South Africa, the EFZ is defined as the area that not only encapsulates the estuary
waterbody, but also the supporting physical and biological processes necessary for estuarine
function and health. It includes all dynamic areas influenced by long-term estuarine
sedimentary processes, i.e. sediment stored or eroded during floods, changes in channel
configuration, aeolian transport processes, and/or changes due to coastal storms. It also
encompasses the multiple ecotones of floodplain and estuarine vegetation that contribute
detritus (food source) to the estuary and/or provide refuge during high flow events. The EFZ
captures the natural, historical estuarine extent and should not be confused with
setback/management lines that often exclude developed areas. The EFZ purpose is to identify
the ‘space’ in which estuarine physical and biological functions take place over long time scales
(>decades). Development in the EFZ is captured as an aspect of habitat degradation or decline
in overall estuary condition.
The upstream boundary of the estuaries was determined as the limits of tidal variation or
salinity penetration, whichever penetrates furthest. The estuary mouth was taken as the
downstream boundary of an estuary. The highly dynamic nature of this area presents a
significant challenge to accessing change in biodiversity and even managing estuaries. To
account for this, and to allow for a seamless integration with the Marine and Coastal Realm, the
concept of ‘Estuarine Shore’ was introduced to reflect the dynamic nature of the interface
between estuaries and the coast. Estuarine Shores refers to sand berms or bars that form in
front of estuaries. They vary substantially in size and shape over decadal scales and can be
completely absent during a flood or a near permanent feature during periods of low flow.
Estuarine Shore was defined as the area from the base of the foredune, or where this line
would be if dunes were present, to the back of the surf zone. The full extent of the Estuarine
Shore is encapsulated in the EFZs and not be considered separate from the functional unit. The
surfzone was included to reflect a continuum in estuarine-marine connectivity through estuarine
inputs to the surfzone, either as direct flow through an open mouth or in seepage through the
berm in a closed system.
Description: Strategic Water Source Areas (SWSAs) refer to the 10% of South Africa’s land area that provides a disproportionate 50% of the country’s water runoff. Understanding where these SWSAs are is crucial to planning and management of water resources, including the ecosystems that support water quality and quantity. These areas extend into Lesotho and eSwatini.
National SWSAs for surface water have been delineated in various forms over the past 15 years, with increasing precision in each iteration. In 2018, 22 SWSAs were identified based on a generalised 1.7 x 1.7 km resolution Mean Annual Runoff dataset, providing a widely accepted product that gained strong traction with government and non-government audiences, proving effective for building awareness and integrating SWSAs in a range of national policies and frameworks. However, the coarse resolution does not align well with the scales used for implementation at catchment and local levels. So, using best available information and the latest geostatistical approaches, South Africa’s SWSAs for surface water have now been delineated at a finer resolution of 90 x 90 m. The work, which concluded in 2021 resulted in two products (both explained in greater detail in Lotter & Le Maitre (2021)):
1. A downscaled mean annual precipitation surface: through consideration of several explanatory variables in the modelling process (such as elevation, latitude, distance from coast, topographical positional index, and Mean Annual Runoff), the “new” Mean Annual Precipitation surface layer was “interpolated” using a dataset of over 8000 rainfall stations and a Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) 90 m Digital Elevation Model (DEM) (available as a stand-alone product).
2. 2021 SWSA layer: This precipitation surface layer was used to delineate fine-scale SWSA boundaries, which were compared with the older 2018 SWSAs for surface water to maintain the 22 SWSAs with similar extent and location to those identified in the 2018 SWSAs.
Delineating SWSAs at a finer scale was done across South Africa, Lesotho and eSwatini because of the shared water catchments that feed into water supply systems in South Africa. Both above mentioned layers therefore extend across the three countries.
Color: [255, 0, 0, 255] Background Color: N/A Outline Color: N/A Vertical Alignment: baseline Horizontal Alignment: left Right to Left: false Angle: 0 XOffset: 0 YOffset: 0 Size: 12 Font Family: Arial Font Style: normal Font Weight: normal Font Decoration: none
Color: [230, 0, 0, 255] Background Color: N/A Outline Color: N/A Vertical Alignment: baseline Horizontal Alignment: left Right to Left: false Angle: 0 XOffset: 0 YOffset: 0 Size: 10 Font Family: Arial Font Style: normal Font Weight: normal Font Decoration: none
Description: The South African Protected Areas Database (SAPAD) contains spatial data for the conservation estate of South Africa. It includes spatial and attribute information for both formally protected areas and areas that have less formal protection. Data is collected by parcels which are aggregated to protected area level. Only outer boundaries are defined in this public release.SAPAD is updated on a continuous basis. It forms the basis for the Register of Protected Areas which is a legislative requirement under the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, Act 57 of 2003.
Service Item Id: d127b5639ad04693b5a403f6d7eb383f
Copyright Text: Depratment of Environment Affairs, DEA
Description: The National Protected Area Expansion Strategy, first published in 2008 (NPAES 2008), presents a 20-year strategy for the expansion of protected areas in South Africa.Provision is made for the review and updating of the NPAES every 5 years. This document (NPAES 2016) represents the first full revision of the NPAES 2008, and the updated strategy for the next 5-years (2016 – 2020). Each new revision of the NPAES refers to a rolling 20-year period, so this revision sets out a future 20-year strategy.The updated NPAES 2016 now includes:New biodiversity data and newly declared protected areas as well as updated provincial conservation plans and provincial protected area expansion strategies (PAES), to improve the setting of targets and the identification of priority areas for meeting these targets.The goal of the NPAES is to achieve cost effective protected area expansion for improved ecosystem representation, ecological sustainability and resilience to climate change. It sets protected area targets, maps priority areas for protected area expansion, and makes recommendations on mechanisms to achieve this.A review of the performance of protected area institutions in protected area expansion for the first implementation phase of the NPAES (2008 – 2014).A description of the priority activities, with explicit performance targets, for the second implementation phase (2016 – 2020) of the NPAES.In order to maintain continuity of the NPAES over the 20 years of the strategy, the structure of this document has been maintained using similar formatting to the NPAES 2008. The document has similar sections, but the information has been revised and updated.
Description: Listed threatened ecosystems for South Africa, listed through NEM:BA 54(1). This list was gazetted in December 2011Ecosystem status consists of the following categories: critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable or least threatened. Ecosystem status was calculated based on the percentage of remaining vegetation area (i.e. not transformed by agriculture, mining, forestry plantations, roads and urban areas) and the biodiversity target set for each vegetation type. The ecosystem status of vegetation types which cannot longer meet its biodiversity target due to habitat transformation was set to “critically endangered” that means the percentage of remaining vegetation type is less than what is required to capture species diversity (biodiversity target). The ecosystem status of other vegetation types was set as follows:- if % of remaining area <60% of original area then status = endangered- if % of remaining area <80% of original area then status = vulnerable- if % of remaining area >80% of original area then status = least threatened.
Description: Polygon features, representing Red List of Ecosystems (RLE) for terrestrial realm for South
Africa. This dataset contains the current remaining natural extent (circa 2018) of each
of the 458 ecosystem types assessed. This means that those portions of ecosystems that
have been lost to anthropogenic activities such as mining or croplands excluded and only
the remnants are part of the dataset. A separate dataset
(RLE_Terr_2021_June2021_ddw.shp) is also available and contains the historical / potential
extent of each ecosystem type. This RLE is a revision of the “List of terrestrial ecosystems
that threatened or in need of protection” published in the government gazette in December
2011. The revision is based on the best available data and used the IUCN RLE risk
assessment framework version 1.1 (Bland et al. 2017). Ecosystem are categorised into one
of four classes representing their risk of collapse; in descending order of risk: Critically
Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Least Concern. The national vegetation map, 2018
version (Mucina and Rutherford 2006; Dayaram et al., 2019) provided the ecosystem units of
assessment for the RLE (Vegetation Unit / Type level).
Refer to the website for more detail on the assessments and methods used
http://ecosystemstatus.sanbi.org.za