Introduction

In order to appropriately monitor development and derive useful conservation plans, we need appropriate measures of the state of the landscape and extent of transformation. The National Land-Cover products from 1994 and 2000 both provide a tool for this purpose, but the information is relatively dated. In addition to this, the resolution for each of these products is relatively poor, which makes planning challenging on finer scales.
The 2005 KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Land-Cover dataset is a geographically combined output of the previously released 2005 KZN Coastal Land-Cover dataset (completed in 2006), and the follow-on KZN Interior Land-Cover dataset. Although completed as separate contractual activities, these two land-cover datasets have been derived from equivalent SPOT2 & SPOT4 20 m imagery captured in 2005-06 and contain the same land-cover information classes and legend format. Certain edits and modifications have however been applied to the pre-existing coastal dataset in order to ensure mapping consistency with the new interior dataset. As a result the final 2005 KZN Province Land-Cover dataset differs in the coastal section from that of the previously released stand-alone 2005 KZN coastal land-cover dataset.
This product is a single, contiguous land-cover dataset covering the entire KZN Province that has been generated from multi-date SPOT2/4 imagery acquired primarily in 2005, and represents the final 2005 KZN Province Land-Cover product.

Background

A difference analysis between the 1994/95 and the 2000 South African National Land- Cover products indicated that the coastal belt of KZN had undergone rapid transformation. This is of great concern to the conservation and planning fraternity in the province, both of whom require a current (2005) land cover and transformation map to better help inform decisions regarding appropriate land use. Ultimately, this layer is critical in the development of a strategy for the conservation of biodiversity in the coastal belt. In support of this, a request was made for the production of an up-to-date, GIS compatible, land-cover dataset of the KZN coast region. Following the successful completion of the coastal mapping exercise, a further request was made to complete the land-cover for the remaining interior regions of the Province. In both cases, the landcover data was to be mapped from recent (2005) medium-resolution SPOT satellite imagery and had to be compatible in terms of information content and data format with both the previous NLC94 and NLC2000 South African Land-Cover Datasets and the FAO Land-Cover Classification Scheme (LCCS) nomenclature.

Note: This map is available for download, but it requires registration with the site for tracking purposes. All rights on the landcover dataset are retained by Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife. The map is in raster format.