The Confidence map was compiled to identify areas where wetland extent and HGM units attained at a higher level of certainty compared to other areas. Higher levels of certainty are associated with areas that have been visited in-field by a wetland specialist(s) over multiple seasons and cycles of the hydroperiod of a wetland, and accurately represented in the dataset. This data set is part of the first version of the South African Inventory of Inland Aquatic Ecosystems (SAIIAE). The confidence map should always be read with the National Wetland Map 5 (NWM5) which was issued with the SAIIAE version 1 was generated on 2018/06/29 by Heidi van Deventer. NWM5 includes inland wetlands and estuaries, but are associated with river line data and many other data sets within the South African Inventory of Inland Aquatic Ecosystems (SAIIAE).

The National Wetland Map version 5 (NWM5) shows the distribution of inland wetland ecosystem types across South Africa and includes estuaries and the extent of some rivers. A confidence map was compiled to identify areas where wetland extent and hydrogeomorphic (HGM) units (which contributed to defining the inland wetland ecosystem types together with the regional setting) attained at a higher level of certainty compared to other areas. Higher levels of certainty are associated [code 5 in field Confidence_nr] with areas that have been visited in-field by a wetland specialist(s) over multiple seasons and cycles of the wetland hydroperiod, and are therefore more accurately represented in the dataset. Codes 4 to 1 indicate lower levels of confidence that the extent and HGM unit are represented well. If the Estuaries are used, please cite Van Niekerk et al., 2019. Technical Report of the Estuarine Ecosystems for the NBA 2018. For queries on the National Wetland Map 5 and associated Confidence Map datasets please contact the Principal Investigator [HvDeventer@csir.co.za] and cc the Freshwater@sanbi.org.za. For contributions and queries regarding future revisions of the National Wetland Map please contact Freshwater@sanbi.org.za. Updates will be incorporated into the National Wetland Map 6 which is under way.