KwaZulu-Natal MEC for the Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development, Mrs Lydia Johnson will be launching the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) at Oceanographic Research Institute Lecture, UShaka Marine World on 15 February 2011.
KwaZulu-Natal’s coastline has been subject to unprecedented levels of erosion over the last few years. This has been the result of storm events most notably that of 19 and 20 March 2007 and subsequent high tide events. The seriousness of coastal erosion in KwaZulu-Natal necessitated the department to develop a Comprehensive Business Plan to deal with this crisis in a holistic manner. One of the key outputs of implementing the Plan was the development of a Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI), an initiative that has been undertaken by the department using the expertise of the Oceanographic Research Institute.
An index of coastal vulnerability has been determined in order to identify areas particularly sensitive to environmental hazards. There are a number of contributing factors in the process of determining overall coastal vulnerability like, vulnerabilities of physical, social, economic and ecological environments. These components have been assessed and integrated in order to determine the overall coastal vulnerability for sections of KwaZulu-Natal coastline.
The outcome of this will inform the delineation of KZN’s coastal set back line (as required by the ICM Act No 24 of 2008) and the development of a coastal risk management strategy.
The CVI was undertaken in three phases:
- An assessment of physical vulnerability based on the physical properties of the coast.
- The second phase looked at social, economic and ecological vulnerabilities.
- In phase three the social, economic and ecological vulnerabilities have been related to the physical coastal vulnerability, so as to identify areas potentially at risk. All the data has been compiled into a user friendly viewer format.
The CVI provides an immediate snapshot of a site`s vulnerability to coastal hazards. Its use will be proactive and will make KwaZulu-Natal undertake a risk averse and precautionary approach to coastal development and ultimately sustainable development.
The event will also see the launch of a user-friendly guide entitled ‘Understanding our Coast’. The document is targeted at people living in the coastal zone and those that use the coastal zone for recreation and leisure.
The official programme will be followed by a tour of the aquarium.
Details of the event are as follows:
Date: 15 February 2011
Venue: Oceanographic Research Institute Lecture, UShaka Marine World
Time: 10h30 for 11h00
Your presence will be highly appreciated.
Enquiries:
Ncumisa Mafunda
Tel: 033 343 8063
Cell: 079 515 7187
