| BACKGROUND
How did we develop environmental indicators in South Africa?
The Department of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism (DEAT) initiated a project at the end of 2000 to
develop a core set of indicators for state of the environment
reporting, termed the National Environmental Indicators Programme.
This project stemmed from the realisation that a commonly agreed
core set of indicators and access to good quality data to support
the indicators was one of the major obstacles for reporting
on the status of the environment in South Africa.
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The National
Environmental Indicators Programme aimed to develop
a core set of indicators by mid-2002 that would:
- Summarise environmental trends at various levels;
- Help integrate environmental information management;
- Promote sharing of knowledge between difference agencies;
- Improve access to and availability of environmental
information to all users; and
- Improve environmental decision making.
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The indicators address priority issues
currently facing South Africa, and emerging issues becoming
more prominent in South Africa. The framework for reporting
on indicators will be flexible so as to allow continuity between
different levels of SOE reporting (local to global). The strategy
for implementation will be cost effective to afford DEAT the
opportunity to conduct this exercise independently of donor
assistance.
The National Environmental Indicators Programme took place through
four specific phases: |
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| Phase 1: Scoping
Phase 1 or the Scoping phase consisted of a number of tasks,
including a review of the strategic
context of the programme, a review
of existing indicator programmes (both within South
Africa and in other countries), and design
of the project process and stakeholder consultation.
Phase 2: Selection of Issues
and Criteria
Selection of Issues and Criteria, Phase 2, also consisted of
a number of tasks, including the formulation
of criteria for selecting indicators, the preliminary
identification of issues through
a review of policy and legislation, and discussions
with experts on emerging issues.
In addition, the South African public
was consulted through a survey to determine key environmental
issues facing South Africans today. A stakeholder workshop was
held to contribute to the refinement of the issues for which
indicators were to be selected.
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Flow chart of the
project phases |
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| Phase 3: Selection
of Indicators
Phase 3 or Indicator Selection was the longest phase in the
project. The Phase was divided into 8
specialist studies. Each
study was required to select existing
and/or develop new environmental indicators for use
in State of the Environment reporting in South Africa. During
the development of the indicators the Bellagio Principles
were also considered and applied where appropriate. The Bellagio
Principles provide guidelines for the practical assessment
of progress towards sustainable development. These guidelines
are useful to ensure that the vision of sustainable development
is maintained throughout the process of indicator development.
Phase 4: Implementation
The Implementation step (Phase 4) followed on from Phase 3,
and was concerned with the development
of an implementation plan for the indicators. A database
was developed to enable the indicators to be displayed in a
dynamic and customizable way.
The following documents represent the outputs of each of these
phases, available from the resources
page.
- Phase 1 - Scoping Report
- Phase 2 - Identification of Issues & Criteria Report
- Phase 3 - Indicator Selection Specialist Reports, volumes
1 to 8
- Phase 4 -Implementation Report
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read more on "Scoping"