A Geospatial Approach to Managing Coastal Access in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract

ABSTRACT Willemse, M. and Goble, B.J., 2018. A geospatial approach to managing coastal access in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In many countries minimum criteria for coastal access have been determined to ensure people's right of access. South Africa is no exception; the provision of coastal access is a legal requirement in terms of the recently promulgated Integrated Coastal Management Act (Act No. 24 of 2008). Unfortunately, as a result of working within a capacity vacuum, both human and financial, there still exists a knowledge gap pertaining to local coastal access and the provisions thereof. Given legislative requirements and public needs, this paper proposes a desktop assessment and cost-effective approach to determining reasonable coastal access. The main aim is to provide coastal municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) with a geospatial framework to support decision making through improved understanding of current and desired coastal access localities and quality. The KZN coastline varies substantial...