Protected Areas and Critical Biodiversity Areas in the Vhembe District, Limpopo, South Africa.

The data provided includes a clipped shapefile which shows the protected areas and the Critical Biodiversity Areas in the Vhembe District. The boundary of the Vhembe District is also included. The shapefile for the Key Biodiversity Areas cannot be shared and permission should be requested from an organization such as BirdLife. Three Excel spreadsheets are also provided. These spreadsheets show the data for each layer and include the area, name, date established, etc.Methodology:The mapping process utilized QGIS version 3.28.0 to create the maps. Prior to analysis, all the vector datasets were collected and cleaned before being converted to EPSG: 4148- Hartebeesthoek94 reference coordinate system. During the screening process, datasets were selected by overlaying the Vhembe District boundary file with the datasets and utilizing the Geoprocessing Tool 'clip'. This method ensured that only the polygons and features within the boundary of the study site were analyzed. These layers were saved as individual shapefiles with their own respective attribute tables. Subsequently, the clipped protected area file was analyzed based on criteria such as date of establishment, coverage, size, and ownership type. The saved KBA and CBA polygons were then overlaid with the protected area layer to identify gaps in the protected area network. The 'clip' tool was used again to generate new polygons depicting KBAs and CBAs that did not overlap with protected areas, facilitating the creation of clear maps illustrating areas in need of protection. Furthermore, the 'field calculator' was employed to determine the area of the original and overlayed layers. This allowed for accurate quantification of the size of protected areas, KBAs and CBAs.