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New Zealand's land cover in 2002

Area (hectares) of nine major land-cover classes in 2002 (grouped from LCDB 2), including their percentage of New Zealand’s total land area

Land-cover class
2002 area (hectares)
Percentage of total land area (%)

Exotic forest

1,961,800

7.31

Exotic shrubland

363,300

1.35

Native forest (including mangroves)

6,483,100

24.17

Native vegetation

5,248,500

19.57

Other native land cover

1,589,100

5.92

Primarily horticulture

417,400

1.56

Primarily pasture

 

 

High-producing exotic grassland

8,885,800

33.13

Low-producing grassland

1,652,300

6.16

Artificial surfaces

220,500

0.82

Total

26,821,600

100

Note: Figures rounded to the nearest 100 hectares.
Data source: Ministry for the Environment.

 

Text description

The map shows the extent to which each of nine major land-cover classes from the Land Cover Database Series 2 (2001-2002) cover New Zealand. The nine classes comprise: native forest, native vegetation, other native land cover (for example, alpine, ice and lakes), exotic forest, exotic vegetation, high-producing exotic grassland and low-producing grassland, primarily horticulture and urban areas and artificial surfaces.


This information has come from the latest national state of the environment report Environment New Zealand 2007.

 

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Last updated: December 2007