Summary of coastal development pressure.
Base data source
Coastal land transformation maps generated by Vera De Cauwer as part of the BCLME Physical mapping project 11 were the base data. The mapping was based on orthophotos, satellite imagery and topographic maps, and gives an indication of any human transformation in the coastal area, e.g. roads, mines or settlements. The layer is now very dated especially considering that rapid urban expansion has occurred over the last few years in certain areas, such as between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. In addition, the original data layer was based on datasets that were already dated at the time and in many cases incomplete.
Methods
The base layer from the BCLME Physical mapping project was reclassified based
on the type of transformation recorded. Scores used were 1= any type of extensive
hard infrastructure, 0.5 = areas with roads, agriculture or forestry, 0 = areas which
were identified as being natural. This layer was converted to a raster, and an
average value calculated for each 5' grid cell