Landslide inventorization and susceptibility mapping in South Africa

Abstract

The Engineering Geoscience Unit of the Council for Geoscience The Engineering Geoscience Unit of the Council for Geoscience (CGS) was identified as one of the World Centres of Excellence (WCoE) on Landslide Risk Reduction, with the task of “Landslide inventorization and susceptibility mapping in South Africa,” by an independent Panel of Experts, and approved by the IPL Global Promotion Committee, during the First World Landslide Forum, 18–21 November 2008, at UNU, Tokyo (Sassa 2009). The unit’s landslide inventories and susceptibility-mapping activities primarily focus within South Africa at a national scale, working systematically through each of the nine provinces. The CGS is one of the National Science Councils of South Africa and is the legal successor of the Geological Survey of South Africa, formed in 1912 by the amalgamation of three former surveys, the oldest of which—the Geological Commission of the Cape of Good Hope—was founded in 1895. Today, the council is a modern institution, boasting excellent facilities and expertise, ranking among the best in Africa. The CGS is tasked with establishing a national investigative and application capacity which seeks to understand and produce knowledge about earth systems so as to bolster the nation’s ability to contribute to the provision of comprehensive knowledge about the natural resource environments, their condition and hazard potential. Moreover, the CGS is tasked with improving the management of natural resources and the environment to create a better quality of life for everyone through: