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"Towards a South African
Integrated Spatial Information System for the new millennium"
(SA-ISIS 2000) will include the first phases in the development
of:
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An Agricultural Management
and Decision Support System (AGIS);
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A Marine Integrated
Development Support System (MIDeSS);
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Biodiversity monitoring and
Assessment Program (BioMap-SA).
Inaccessibility of agricultural
(soil, climate, water and environmental factors of production),
biodiversity and coastal zone related information to the research
community, decision makers and the civil society is one of the
most critical constraints for land use planning and development in
South Africa. The project aims to develop models and decision
support systems to ensure effective decision making in the area of
agricultural development.
Another component of the project
includes the development of a development support system to assist
local authorities in making informed decisions regarding the
development of the coastal zone. Going beyond the well-established
concept of decision support systems, the DeSS will integrate
environmental, economic, legislative and social variables. The
BioMap component will include a full spectrum of analytical
procedures required to identify priority conservation areas, for
identifying species of regional conservation importance and for
assessing the impact of proposed land use developments on regional
biodiversity conservation. The SA-ISIS 2000 project outputs will
be accessible to multiple user groups via the World Wide Web and
other electronic media. |