GIS systems: a vital tool in Department’s spatial planning, investigations and biodiversity conservation.
Geographic information system (GIS) are designed to capture, analyse, manage, and present spatial or geographic data. This technology allows the Department to fulfil its role in improving urban and rural areas and enhancing climate change plans.
Marking World GIS Day, the Department celebrates the team of dedicated GIS technicians who are responsible for producing various environmental, social, infrastructure and economic spatial layers which assist the teams within the Department on land use and environmental decision-making.
Andre van der Merwe, Head of Component for Spatial Information Management at DEA&DP said: “We have several interactive web tools, with spatial datasets covering the Western Cape Province. This data directly influences some of the guidelines and risk modelling documents that are produced by the Department.”
DEA&DP make use of the Environmental and Development Planning Atlas and Coastal Management Viewer display spatial data which was used in the development of the Provincial Spatial Development Framework (PSDF).
Ayub Mohamed, Chief Director for Environmental Governance, Policy Coordination & Enforcement at DEA&DP says, GIS and other applications such as Cape farm mapper, google earth are critical technologies used in our investigations. We use it to do desktop investigations and in planning blitz operations. “GIS is a crucial step in the pre-liminary investigation process to obtain information such as identifying watercourses, vegetation types, and catchment areas on properties before visiting the site. We also use aerial photography to corroborate the evidence gathered. Just recently we were able to successfully prosecute a case and prove without a doubt that the accused guilty of serious environmental degradation thanks to GIS.”
Marlene Laros, Director for Biodiversity and Coastal Management at DEA&DP said: “Our directorate use this technology to identify the coastal management (set-back) lines for the Western Cape. These boundaries indicate the limit of development along ecologically sensitive or vulnerable areas, or an area that poses a hazard or risk to humans.”
Laros adds that the ultimate intention of the coastal management line, as defined in the Integrated Coastal Management Act, is to protect or preserve coastal public property (for example beach amenities, parking), private property, and public safety in the face of extreme climate and other natural events.
At the core of GIS systems is the intelligence used by regional and town planners to draft Spatial Development Frameworks and conduct trend analysis of changes and growth of settlements and urban areas over time. Catherine Stone, Director for Spatial Planning at DEA&DP said: “We use GIS to conduct spatial analyses such as slope map analysis, biodiversity mapping, facility accessibility analysis or density determinations. This information is used to develop spatial planning policies, and guidelines, used to guide the public, municipalities, provincial departments and organs of state in spatial planning and land use management in the Province.”
The wealth of spatial intelligence available these days is incredible and it presents such an opportunity to enrich our practice of spatial planning with solid evidence and to monitor changes in how people are using space and the characteristics of households in different areas, to inform our plans and policies. We can map so many different things and overlay them to determine areas at risk of veld fire for example. We can estimate densities of settlements and analyse communities’ access to facilities. On the basis of GIS we can model the implications of changes to policies in order to make more informed decisions.
For more information on our Spatial Information Management sub-directorate and team click here.
ENDS