Western Cape State Of The Coast
WHAT IS THE WESTERN CAPE STATE OF THE COAST?
The State of the Coast Report (SoCR) describes the condition of the biophysical, socio-economic and institutional environments as they relate to the coastal zone. The SoCR describes the current condition as the baseline and uses historical information, where available, to assess changes to the coast over time. The SoCR also describes the impacts of projected climate change manifestations on the coastline. The “Driver-Pressure-State-Impacts-Response” (DPSIR) was used to assess the state of the coast based on a set of indicators.
The Western Cape SoCR (WC SoCR) 2018 is the first SoCR report that specifically focusses on aspects of the coastal environment in the Province. Nine coastal themes were assessed in the WC SoCR (the details of each of these can be accessed here):
- Coastal Biodiversity
- Estuaries
- Coastal Socio-economic Conditions
- Coastal Resource Use
- Coastal Land Use
- Pollution and Waste
- Coastal Vulnerability
- Cooperative Governance
- Awareness, Education and Training
Knowledge about the current coastal pressures and their associated impacts as well as tracking trends over time, enables us to understand coastal issues and respond by adapting behaviour, modifying our activities and directing our management actions in a more meaningful and effective way, to achieve sustainability. It also assists us with the development of business intelligence in order to enhance our natural capital.
- Gain empirical knowledge on the condition of the coast;
- Achieve sustainability though providing business intelligence to enable evidence-led policy;
- Inform strategy and targets by setting goals for management interventions to reduce pressures and mitigate impacts;
- Detect emerging issues;
- Inform and guide the Western Cape Coastal Management Programme in terms of supplying information pertaining to the selected priority areas and providing direction for Coastal Management Objectives and resource prioritisation.
The Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework was used to report on the state of the coast. It begins with understanding the causes of change (drivers) in the coastal areas, how these changes result in pressure on the coast and the changes to the state of the coasts caused by specific impacts on the coastal environment, and finally what we do about it (our response). Indicators are used to report on the extent or significance of a particular driver, pressure, state, or impact.
