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Exotic forestry land use

In April 2010, planted forests were estimated to cover 1.74 million hectares of New Zealand’s total land area. This is less than the figure reported from Land Use Carbon Analysis System (LUCAS), since the LUCAS figure also includes forest land used for protection, eg, erosion or river control.

Total land area in exotic forestry has increased since 1990, however, it has been reducing in recent years since peaking in 2003.

Figure 1: Total exotic forest land in New Zealand, 1990–2010

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Year	Area (hectares)
1990	1261000
1991	1289000
1992	1308000
1993	1328000
1994	1388000
1995	1478000
1996	1542000
1997	1630000
1998	1679000
1999	1731000
2000	1769000
2001	1799000
2002	1814000
2003	1827000
2004	1822000
2005	1811000
2006	1800000
2007	1789550
2008	1761291
2009	1751000
2010	1738000

Data source: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

Exotic forestry land use is monitored for new plantings and for replantings of harvested plantations. There has been a reduction in new plantings and replantings over the last decade.

In the period from 1992 to 1998, new area planting rates were high – averaging 69,000 hectares per year. Since 1998, the rate of new forest plantings has dropped. In 2008, 2,000 new hectares were planted – the lowest level since 1945, but this has risen to 6,000 hectares in 2010.

Figure 2: Area of new exotic forestry plantings, 1920–2010

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Year ended	Area planted ('000s of hectares)
1920	1
1925	14
1930	37
1935	12
1940	2
1945	0
1950	3
1951	3
1952	3
1953	3
1954	4
1955	5
1956	5
1957	5
1958	5
1959	5
1960	6
1961	7
1962	9
1963	11
1964	14
1965	13
1966	15
1967	17
1968	21
1969	23
1970	26
1971	29
1972	33
1973	44
1974	44
1975	45
1976	49
1977	39
1978	43
1979	44
1980	38
1981	45
1982	49
1983	51
1984	56
1985	48
1986	40
1987	30
1988	20
1989	21
1990	16
1991	15
1992	50
1993	62
1994	98
1995	74
1996	84
1997	64
1998	51
1999	40
2000	34
2001	30
2002	22
2003	20
2004	11
2005	6
2006	3
2007	2
2008	2
2009	4
2010	6

Data source: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

The reduction in new plantings since the mid-1990s means that New Zealand’s land area in exotic (commercially planted) forest is no longer increasing. The maintenance of the current area of exotic forestry land will depend on replanting trends, that is, whether forestry land use is maintained after harvest.

Historically, most commercially planted forest was replanted after harvest. In 2004, a new trend of not replanting forest after harvesting started to become apparent. In a few cases immature forest has been converted to pasture. However, it is estimated that approximately 1800 hectares of planted production forest was converted to another land use in the year ended 31 March 2009. This is significantly less than the 15,600 hectares not replanted in 2008 and is within the historical average of two to five per cent of exotic forests not being replanted after harvesting.

New plantings and replanting of exotic forestry, 1990–2009

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Year	New planting (hectares)	Replanting (hectares)
1990	16000	26 860
1991	15000	27 761
1992	50000	19 979
1993	62000	23 797
1994	98000	24 101
1995	74000	24 740
1996	84000	27 437
1997	64000	29 016
1998	51000	30 327
1999	40000	29 336
2000	33600	35700
2001	30100	35800
2002	22100	39600
2003	19900	38200
2004	10600	39600
2005	6000	31900
2006	2600	34300
2007	2400	34700
2008	1900	31300
2009	4300	32500

Data source: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

If low replanting rates continue, New Zealand’s total exotic (commercial) forest land area will continue to reduce. A reduction in total exotic forest land area will have implications for the sequestration of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. It may also affect flood management, nutrients and soil health, soil erosion, and ecosystem processes related to the displacement of species living in exotic forest habitats. The impacts of deforestation on the environment will largely depend on the land use that is replacing forestry, how that land use is managed, and the management of the surrounding catchment.

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Last updated: January 2011