NatureMaps Support
Enviro Data SA
SA Department for Environment and Water
e: [email protected]

Dear NatureMaps Support,

Re: GIS data for Nature Parks and Wildlife SA (NPWSA) Reserves outlines

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration of my correspondence and for maintaining the NatureMaps application and website.

I am writing in my personal capacity with a keen interest in environmental conservation and in public accessibility to – and enjoyment of – our natural environment.

Google Maps is widely used by South Australians and visitors to our state to navigate to sites of public interest, including NPWSA Reserves, especially National Parks, Conservation Parks, and Recreation Parks. Currently, Google Maps is missing the outlines of several significant South Australian NPWSA sites, including Para Wirra Conservation Park, Anstey Hill Recreation Park, Cobbler Creek Recreation Park, Glenthorne National Park, and Sturt Gorge Recreation Park, to name but a few. I note that mapping of the NPWSA Reserves (outlines) data layer is available via the NatureMaps application.

For example, since providing GIS coordinates for Lawari CP to Google Maps a few years ago, there have been 50,000 public views of the photos assigned in Google Maps to the Park. Hopefully this demonstrates the public value, and especially tourism value, in having NPWSA sites properly shown on public mapping applications.

May I kindly request, can Enviro Data SA provide me with the GIS data – or instructions on how to access that data – for the NPWSA Reserves (outlines), noting my intention to provide this data to Google Maps?

If not, would Enviro Data SA be willing to provide the data directly to Google Maps?

Would it be possible to set up a process by which the data could regularly be made available (for example, annually) to publicly accessible mapping providers such as Google Maps?

Thank you again for your time and consideration of my correspondence.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Cornish

4 / 7 / 2021