Data used in the State of the Environment Report

This report provides details of the data sets which were used in compiling the National State of the Environment (NSoE) Report for South Africa. The data sets were either incorporated in the report or were used to make certain conclusions and recommendations. The purpose of this document is to assist readers of the NSoE in tracing the data sets for further information or usage. The NSoE report was compiled by the Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism (DEA&T), with assistance from over 20 research organisations.

This report only deals with data sets used in compiling the NSoE, and references to scientific and other publications are generally not included, but are contained within the references section of the NSoE itself. Although the CSIR or DEA&T may hold some of these data sets, there are strict copyright restrictions on data usage in many instances and in most cases, the original data must be obtained from the source organisation listed.

SUMMARY

This section merely summarises data-related issues from each of the chapters to indicate gaps and other problems pertaining to this data. Use the hyperlinks provided below to link to detailed information on the data sets for each of the chapters in the report.

Chapter 1

• Data on emissions are out of date, incomplete, fragmented across various institutions and inaccessible. A centralised database is required where data are maintained from all monitoring stations across the country.
• Improved recording and access to air quality information is required for assessing health impacts e.g. data from the national sulphur dioxide network are not available as hourly values, which are needed to calculate health impacts.
• Respiratory diseases, the most direct result of poor air quality, are not notifiable in South Africa. This information can, therefore, only be determined by epidemiological studies or analyses of clinic and hospital records.
• There is insufficient monitoring and study of natural or agricultural ecosystems to be able to determine if impacts are occurring due to air pollution or acid deposition.

More information on data sets related to Chapter 1 can be found here.

Chapter 2

• Many data sets are potential data such as vegetation and prime agricultural land. This has limited use in reporting on the current status of the environment.
• Data such as the National Land Cover are more useful in that they are actual data. However, regular updating of this information is required for it to be useful in subsequent SoE reports. Combined with potential maps e.g. predicted change in vegetation due to climate change, these data will be extremely useful.
• Biodiversity data are incomplete across the country, out of date, and not centrally maintained. The number of rare, endangered or threatened species is also out of date and incomplete for some taxa.
• The extent and location of land degradation is poorly documented. For example, the use of agrochemicals has not been spatially recorded, and the extent of desertification has been estimated by experts but not verified.
• The impacts of habitat fragmentation, habitat loss, loss of ecosystems functionality and loss of biodiversity are poorly understood.

More information on data sets related to Chapter 2 can be found here.

Chapter 3

• Data required for this chapter were generally available and accurate. However, there was little readily available information on effluent volume and quality at a national level (for industry, domestic and mining). Information on waste from informal settlements is not available. There is also little information on other non-point sources of pollution, because they are difficult to quantify.
• Water quality data were available from the Hydrological Information System Quality Database (HIS QualDB) from DWAF. The data are received from accredited laboratories throughout the country and are considered to be accurate.
• Hydrological data were available from the Hydrological Information System of DWAF. The data accuracy of the whole database is not possible to establish, but the data from stations mentioned in this report were evaluated. In the case of some rivers, there were not adequate data to estimate the freshwater flow into estuaries.

More information on data sets related to Chapter 3 can be found here.

Chapter 4

• Data sets used in compiling Chapter 4 illustrated a trend in uncoordinated and generally incomplete knowledge on issues of greatest concern. There is also a need to update the research on marine and coastal systems and resources. Two examples of often-cited references which highlight this deficiency include: Lubke and de Moor (1998) and Branch and Branch (1983).
• The quality and availability of data varies across the country highlighting a need for a national rather than a provincial approach to research and monitoring.
• The development of estuarine health indices will yield useful data in future.

More information on data sets related to Chapter 4 can be found here.

Chapter 5

• Most data pertaining to social issues are contained in the National Population Census (1996). However, these are not freely accessible and must be purchased by request.
• There is a difficulty with time series data from the censuses immediately before 1996. Statistics from the old TBVC territories are not readily available or necessarily comparable with those of the rest of South Africa.

More information on data sets related to Chapter 5 can be found here.

Chapter 6

• Information regarding the macroeconomic objectives is readily available and is generally of a high quality. Information on demographic and environmental issues on an economy-wide scale is lacking, for various reasons.
• Environmental information at project level is ample, but fragmented in terms of geographic distribution and the purpose of the research. For these reasons, the majority of environmental information remains within the domain of the research agency, whose vested interest may result in the non-disclosure of the information.
• Environmental economic information on a national level is almost non-existent. There are a number of ongoing initiatives both on a national as well as a regional level. However, it will, be some time before a fully operational national database will be in place.

More information on data sets related to Chapter 6 can be found here.

Chapter 7

The data gaps currently hindering policy development and implementation are:

• Data on the level and sources of pollution.
• Comprehensive needs analysis for implementation of the policies and legislation.
• Indicators of policy implementation.

More information on data sets related to Chapter 7 can be found here.