We have expanded!
The Environmental Practice (Enviroprac) was founded in 2018 by Managing Director Colleen McCreadie. We offer a range of services including environmental impact management, consulting, and permitting/licensing to clients in the infrastructure development field. We have helped numerous clients minimise their environmental impacts and ensure compliance with environmental laws.
We are excited to announce that Lauren Elston joined our team in mid-2023! Our team consists of two experienced environmental consultants with over 30 years of combined experience, an in-house environmental and chemical engineer, and administrative/public participation support.
To learn more about the services Enviroprac offers and the qualifications and experience of our team, please refer to our updated Company Profile.
Easy-To-Use Land Use Planning Guidance
Did you know there is a user-friendly web-based mapping program that allows you to search for potential opportunities and constraints for infrastructure development on your property or proposed development site?
CapeFarmMapper, developed by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, is a free web-mapping program. Simply search for your property or upload a Google Earth polygon in KML/KMZ format. Choose from various mapping layers to view potential opportunities and constraints. This application is available to everyone and is a valuable tool for land use planning, showing areas of environmental constraints and development opportunities such as rivers, wetlands, important vegetation, and areas for sustainable development.
What’s New in Sustainable Land Use Planning?
The Western Cape Biodiversity Spatial Plan (WCBSP) is the product of a comprehensive province-wide biodiversity planning assessment.
It identifies Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBAs) and Ecological Support Areas (ESAs) that need to be protected to ensure the survival and functioning of land-based and aquatic species and ecosystems. These spatial planning categories inform sustainable development in the Western Cape Province and can be accessed as a layer on CapeFarmMapper.
The WCBSP 2023 is an update of the Province’s Systematic Biodiversity Plan. It replaces the previous WCBSP 2017 with more current and improved land use planning information. Specifically, certain ecosystems that were previously classified as Endangered and are now classified as Critically Endangered in the Revised National List of Ecosystems That Are Threatened And In Need of Protection (November 2022) have been updated. The land cover maps and biodiversity planning maps, including CBA’s and ESA’s, have also been updated.
In June 2023, the National Biodiversity Offset Guideline was gazetted. Biodiversity Offsets are interventions that developers can undertake to offset the negative impact of a development on land-based or aquatic biodiversity. For instance, if a development unavoidably impacts an area of highly sensitive vegetation, they can “offset” this impact by protecting and managing a similar area of vegetation elsewhere.
Enviroprac recently attended a workshop on Biodiversity Offsets hosted by CapeNature. The workshop highlighted that Biodiversity Offsets should only be considered after all efforts have been made to avoid and minimise impacts and rehabilitate affected areas. It also emphasized that Biodiversity Offsets are expensive and may not be feasible for small scale developers due to the high costs involved in financing and managing a conservation area. Furthermore, finding appropriate land and a conservation authority to manage the conservation area can be a challenge.
For more information, please contact us by phone at 021 788 9323 or by email at colleen@enviroprac.co.za/ lauren@enviroprac.co.za
