Atlas · South Africa / Intelligence Centre
INTELLIGENCE CENTRE · SOUTH AFRICA

Nature and climate intelligence, from the data to the decision

114,918 mapped features and 38,220 observations from 47 datasets, harmonised to one set of units, with every number traceable to its source.

Mapped mangrove
2,001 ha
458 polygons · 2020
Change since 1996
+238 ha
+13.0% net, 1996–2025
Datasets
47
114,918 features
Data quality score
96 / 100
55,235 geometries repaired
Provenance coverage
114,918
Records traceable to source

The seascape at a glance

Live from Atlas’ own database

Mangrove formations map

Pan and zoom; click a polygon for its area and source

Area by formation

Share of mapped hectares

Mangrove · 100.0%

Landscape science

Computed, reproducible measures (see Methodologies)

Fragmentation

How broken up is the canopy?

Patches
458
Median / mean patch
0.157 / 4.37 ha
Effective mesh size
280.6 ha
Largest patch index
32.9% of area
Patch-size exponent α
1.60
Species & formations

Spatial clustering

Moran’s I and Getis-Ord Gi* on a 5 km grid

Moran’s I
0.265
z-score
1.6

Mangrove area is not significantly clustered. 6 hot-spot and 0 cold-spot cells.

Spatial analysis

Mangrove area by year

Global Mangrove Watch, hectares

Themes

Where Atlas has data, and where it is still empty

What the analysis says

Top recommendations from the intelligence engine
HighGovernance
Licence terms to be confirmed for 31 datasets
Licence terms are being confirmed with the publisher. Atlas holds the data for scientific and internal use and shows the original attribution, but cannot grant bulk redis...
HighData_gap
10 of 9 themes have no data yet
Atlas holds no records for: Coastal Forests, Blue Carbon, Restoration Sites, Land Use & Land Cover, People & Settlements, Wildlife & Habitats, Fire & Climate, Farming & L...
MediumFragmentation
Most polygons are very small, but most area sits in large stands
36.5% of the 458 mapped polygons are under 0.1 ha, yet patches of 10 ha or more hold 85.0% of all mangrove area. Management and monitoring effort should focus on the larg...
LowChange
Net gain of mangrove since 1996
Global Mangrove Watch maps 1,834 ha of mangrove in South Africa in 1996 and 2,072 ha in 2025: a net gain of 238 ha (13.0%), about 8 ha per year. This is the net balance o...
All recommendations

Ask the analyst

Plain-English questions, answered with real calculations

See how it works
Latest brief: 4 computed insights: 2 need attention, 1 are worth acting on. Read “South Africa mangrove intelligence brief — 14 October 2026”

Datasets in Atlas

47 datasets from 6 sources — grouped by where they come from

Global Mangrove Watch v3.0

Global Mangrove Watch (Aberystwyth University, soloEO, Wetlands International, UNEP-WCMC, JAXA) · 5 datasets · 3,606 features

Global Mangrove Watch v4.1

Global Mangrove Watch (Aberystwyth University, soloEO, Wetlands International, UNEP-WCMC, JAXA) · 7 datasets · 2,996 features

WWF Kenya Sources: GIS Centre of Excellence

WWF Kenya · 31 datasets · 108,172 features

Fynbos
Protected Areas & Landscapes · v1
1
features
Heliport
Roads, Rail & Infrastructure · v1
4
features
Africa_Water_Towers
Water & Catchments · v1
7
features
polygons
Protected Areas & Landscapes · v1
11
features
Biodiversity Hotspots
Biodiversity · v1
12
features
Air Flight Routes
Roads, Rail & Infrastructure · v1
18
features
Air_Flight_Routes
Roads, Rail & Infrastructure · v1
18
features
Main Towns
Community Projects · v1
22
features

Berkeley Voluntary Registry Offsets Database (v2026-08)

Berkeley Carbon Trading Project, University of California, Berkeley · 1 datasets · 28 features

Carbon projects: South Africa
Carbon Projects · v1
28
features

UNEP-WCMC global seagrass and saltmarsh layers

UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and Short FT · 2 datasets · 103 features

Seagrass (UNEP-WCMC): South Africa
Seagrass · v1
26
features
Salt marsh (UNEP-WCMC): South Africa
Salt Marsh · v1
77
features

UNDP project data (IATI Registry)

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) · 1 datasets · 13 features

Community and nature projects (UNDP): South Africa
Community Projects · v1
13
features

Data health

The ten lowest-scoring datasets and the local archive

Quality scorecard

Geometry, provenance, flags, duplicates, verification and licence

Carbon projects: South Africa
90
Seagrass (UNEP-WCMC): South Africa
90
Salt marsh (UNEP-WCMC): South Africa
90
Community and nature projects (UNDP): South Africa
90
Fynbos
95
Heliport
95
Africa_Water_Towers
95
polygons
95
Biodiversity Hotspots
95
Air Flight Routes
95

Local archive

Atlas runs from its own copy

Last import
14 Oct 2026, 15:38
Snapshots kept
1
Units
ha · m · % · UTC · WGS 84
Sources online?
Not needed. Atlas serves everything from its own database.
Full data-quality report
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