The Ferncliffe Catchment Conservancy has been identified, within the context of Pietermaritzburg,
KwaZulu-Natal, for its important geographical and ecological features. The mapping and
communication of these features to the broader community resident within the Conservancy have
been envisaged as an important undertaking. A most effective way of achieving this goal was to
use a Geographic Information System in the mapping exercise and in creating an inventory of the
resources in the Conservancy and a monitoring database. Such spatial information would then
provide stakeholders with a spatial context within which to appreciate the natural resources
available and the problems associated with them.
In undertaking this task, spatial data were acquired in digital form as well as from aerial
photographs and 1:50000 topo-cadastral maps. These data were imported into ArcView GIS
Version 3.1 where the mapping of the various resources was done. An inventory of the resources
was created and a spatial database linking attributes that describe the physical environment, the
natural vegetation, agricultural activities and the built environment, was set up.
It became evident that using a Geographic Information System for natural resource management
provides for integration of spatial information which would otherwise be contained in several
separate databases and maps. Further, these data can be readily accessed, queried, upgraded and
manipulated. For conservancies in urban and rural KwaZulu-Natal, and indeed, the rest of South
Africa, to achieve their aims in natural resource management and monitoring, such an approach
would be most efficient and effective. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/4976 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Nsanzya, Kizito Malambo. |
| Contributors | Ahmed, Fethi B. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
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