​The Office of Chief Directorate: National Geospatial Information (CD:NGI) within the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) is appointed as a Base Data  Set Coordinator for the Theme: Land Cover. One of the responsibilities of a Base Data Set  Coordinator is to coordinate all data custodians contributing to the Theme: Land Cover to ensure that the base spatial data custodians and the base attribute data custodian create base data set that adheres to all policies, standards and specification. To date, a National Land Cover Classes and Definitions (NLCCD) Standard (2017) is approved through section 11 of the Spatial Data Infrastructure Act, No.54 of 2003. The CD:NGI is now engaging in a process to formulate a standard for the style and the colour palette of the National Land Cover classes. 

The purpose of this project is to have a standard in the style and colour palette of the National Land Cover classes to ensure uniformity in the use of cartographic representation of Land Cover Class features, focusing only on level 1 and level 2 of NLCCD. The proposal excludes level 3 and 4 of the NLCCD and does not encompass all components of map design according to cartographic principles. 

In compliance with section 6 of the Base Data Custodianship policy, stakeholders are invited to evaluate and submit comments on the draft style and colour. The following documents are attached:

1. Excel spreadsheet as Annexure A

2. ArcGIS style files as Annexure B1 and Annexure B2

3. National Land Cover Classes 

Due to the current COVID-19 restrictions, a virtual workshop will be held on the 10th of September 2020 from 10am-12am. Kindly confirm attendance by mailing Mr Luncedo Ngcofe at luncedo.ngcofe@drdlr.gov.za by latest 7 September 2020.