299 estuarine systems along the South African coastline were mapped. For each the floodplain (estuarine functional zone) areas were digitized using Spot 5 imagery (2008) and Google Earth. It also shows the areas of the floodplains in hectares and meters as well as the estuary names and ID’s as they occur along the coastline.

Identified Critical Biodiversity Areas and Ecological Support Areas in the Municipalities adjacent to the Addo Elephant National Park (namely Blue Crane Route, Ndlambe, Ikwezi and Sundays River); basis of categorization is included in this layer to help inform decision makers

Spatial terrestrial biodiversity priority areas of South Africa (Priority_areas.shp). Terrestrial biodiversity priority areas were identified using data on species of special concern, vegetation types and ecological processes. Species of special concern were endemic and threatened plants, birds,frogs, mammals, scarabs and scorpions. Vegetation types were the 441 vegetation types of the vegetation map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (Mucina & Rutherford, 2004). Ecological processes considered were water production, carbon sequestration, speciation and migration. Using the principles of systematic conservation planning, priority scores were derived for species, habitat and processes separately. These were then combined into an overall priority score. Boundaries were drawn around areas of high priority score to identify 15 spatial terrestrial biodiversity priority areas. The boundaries are approximate and should not be used for fine-scale biodiversity assessment.

Threatened ecosystems in the Klein Karoo. It shows the “critically endangered”, “endangered” and “vulnerable” ecosystems as defined by National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment. These areas should be avoided as too much of these ecosystems have already been lost as a result of agricultural and urban developments. This data needs to be used together with the shapefiles; ‘Ostrich_farming.shp’ and ‘Ostrich_farming_severe_cultivated_transf.shp’, to determine areas where ostrich farming should be avoided.

National Biodiversity Assessment(NBA) pelagic habitat classifications

CAPE Lowlands Renosterveld – Ecological Processes (Upland Lowland Transitions). Transitions from upland (high-lying) areas to lowland habitat through natural vegetation. In order to spatially depict ecological processes associated with upland-lowland transitions in the Cape Lowlands Renosterveld region, areas following the interface between lowland and montane habitats were identified. Only those areas where natural vegetation still remains were included. Upland-lowland habitats were identified using: • Vegetation patterns (where their boundaries reflect the transition from low- to high-lying areas, e.g. between coastal renosterveld and mountain fynbos); or • Topography (especially where transitional habitats are extensive).

Description Special Habitats layer for the Cape Agulhas, De Hoop Management Area, Overstrand, Drakenstein Municipality, Swartland, Swellendam and Theewaterskloof Municipalities.

Polygons of formal protected areas in South Africa

SKEP Expert Maps (Amphibians, Birds, Fish, Insect, Invertebrates, Mammals, Plants, Reptiles)

This layer maps the location of interventions rehabilitated within the working for wetlands programme. THE WORKING for WETLANDS PROGRAMME is a partnership approach to the rehabilitation, protection and sustainable use of wetlands. The points were collected using GPS by a team for planning and implementation of rehab. The data is captured in vector format. The attribute data was collected from rehabilitation plans document and checked and confirmed by the provincial coordinators. Note: This GIS layer codes: • Working for Wetlands rehabilitation interventions points in projects • The wetland polygons are recorded on a separate shapefile