Marine Spatial Planning Support Viewer
The National Oceans and Coastal Information Management System (OCIMS) Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) Support Viewer Decision Support Tool (DeST) provides consolidated view of data sources that can inform MSP and the development of Marine Area Plans (MAPs). The MSP Support Viewer DeST contains relevant and accessible spatial data from authoritative sources and use a federated data source approach for data ingestion. Further developments will focus on the first MAP area (i.e. Knysna to Port Elizabeth) and introduce a theme base structure for the data.
The data represented in the MSP Support Viewer DeST is not exhaustive. The aim of publishing the content of the viewer on an open internet platform is to ensure transparency to the data sources that are being considered for MSP and MAPs, and to facilitate additional contributions from authoritative data sources.
With the publication of the Marine Spatial Planning Bill (2017) and the associated MSP Framework (2017), the requirement for a consolidated information base to inform MSP became a statutory requirement. Such an information base will have to contain an array of social, economic and environmental data sources with a high level of confidence from authoritative sources. MSP will provide a regulatory approach to MAPs. Cabinet has designated the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) as the lead department for MSP in South Africa, as such, DEA will need to collaborate with all relevant national authorities that have a mandate related to marine planning and management.
By developing a MSP Support Viewer DeST, DEA will be able to fulfil its legislative mandate and governance requirements outlined in the MSP Bill (2017) and MSP Framework (2017). The MSP Support Viewer DeST will draw on the Advanced Spatial Data Infrastructure (ASDI) developed under the National Oceans and Coastal Information Management System (OCIMS). The development of OCIMS and the implementation of Operation Phakisa highlighted the requirement to create an enabling environment for spatial data governance to support national initiatives. Operation Phakisa’s OCIMS will contribute to our national objectives of economic growth and sustainable development as outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP).
