In designing the National Wetlands Inventory, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), through the Wetlands Conservation Programme, embarked on a thorough process of consultation with stakeholders in the country, as well as with the United States National Wetlands Inventory (NWI), a unit of the United States Fish and Wildlife Services. Two technical exchanges were facilitated with the aim of utilising the extensive expertise of the NWI in establishing the South African National Wetlands Inventory. The classification system forms a fundamental basis on which wetlands diversity and condition will be assessed and analysed. The promulgation of the National Environmental
Management: Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004, led to the transformation of the National Botanical Institute into the South African National Biodiversity Institute. Because of the new mandate vested on SANBI by the Biodiversity Act, the National Wetlands Inventory, along with its parent programme (Working for Wetlands Programme), was moved from DEAT to SANBI.

The inventory dataset presents information on the extent, location and distribution of wetlands systems in South Africa. Upon completion of the project, a clear picture will exist of the extent, distribution and diversity of South Africa's wetlands, in the form of GIS-based digital coverage and printed maps. A national database, containing the attributes, functions and values of individual wetlands will be linked to this spatial data. Wetland habitats were mapped and classified from remote sensing imagery. The methodology for mapping wetlands, as well as the kind of remote sensing to be used, was determined in the pilot study. Spatial information generated through the remote sensing mapping exercise will be stored in a GIS linked to a database containing supplementary wetland attribute information.

The national wetland coverage generated by the inventory seeks to establish a baseline for measuring future change in wetland area, function and values, and permit status, and if possible, trends analyses to be carried out in order to assess the need for, or effectiveness of, specific wetland conservation strategies. These analyses will be incorporated into various conservation and environmental management reports. The Wetland Classification System has been developed and applied to the National Wetlands Inventory.