New report shows impact of demands on land in NZ

A new environmental report by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ, presents new data on New Zealand’s land cover, soil quality and land fragmentation.

The land cover data in the report, Our land 2021, provides the most up-to-date estimates of New Zealand’s land cover and associated land use and changes.

Overseas markets are a significant driver of land use, and with global populations projected to reach 10.9 billion by 2100, market-based pressures on land are set to increase. Most of our agriculture and forestry products are exported, and these activities currently cover about half our land area, the report says.

Our land 2021 explores the impact of New Zealand’s growing population, export-driven economic growth, and the demand for housing in the future.

While urban land cover continues to make up one percent of total land area in New Zealand, we can see that urban and residential expansion is outwards onto productive land, which creates tension between the use of land for housing and land for agriculture.

Read the full report and English and te reo Māori versions of the summary report

Access the new and updated indicators for Our land 2021