Land Data - Page 4

New Zealand has been divided into 500 land environments. These have been defined by their unique climate, topography, and soils. The extent to which indigenous vegetation is represented in these land environments, and how that vegetation is formally protected, is described by threatened environment categories. These can be monitored to understand the effects of land cover change on indigenous biodiversity.

This dataset relates to the "Indigenous cover and protection in land environments" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

New Zealand has been divided into 500 land environments. These have been defined by their unique climate, topography, and soils. The extent to which indigenous vegetation is represented in these land environments, and how that vegetation is formally protected, is described by threatened environment categories. These can be monitored to understand the effects of land cover change on indigenous biodiversity.

Column headings:
num_envs = number of land environmnets

This dataset relates to the "Indigenous cover and protection in land environments" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

The data identifies five classes of land in New Zealand at risk of erosion:

1. high landslide risk – delivery to stream
2. high landslide risk – non-delivery to steam
3. moderate earthflow risk
4. severe earthflow risk
5. gully risk

Landslide erosion is the shallow (approximately 1m) and sudden failure of soil slopes during storm rainfall. Earthflow erosion is the slow downward movement (approximately 1m/year) of wet soil slopes towards waterways. Gully erosion is massive soil erosion that begins at gully heads and expands up hillsides over decadal time scales.

Erosion can have negative consequences on land productivity, water quality (via increased sedimentation and turbidity), the natural form of the land, and infrastructure.

New Zealand experiences high rates of soil erosion. In the North Island, this is mostly due to the historical clearance of forest for agriculture (see also Estimated long-term soil erosion). In contrast, erosion in the South Island is mostly due to natural processes, primarily high rainfall and steep mountain slopes.

It is important to identify areas of land at risk of severe erosion to inform land-use decisions and help prioritise regional soil conservation work.

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

high-class land is the most productive land for growing food. It supports most crops across New Zealand. Expanding lifestyle blocks and urban areas reduces the availability of high-class land for commercial crop growing, and this land is unlikely to be returned to primary production. This affects our commercial food-production capacity.

Column headings:
area_kha = area of land measured in kilohectares (ie multiply by 1000 to get hectares)

This dataset relates to the "High-class land for food production" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

High-class land is the most productive land for growing food. It supports most crops across New Zealand. Expanding lifestyle blocks and urban areas reduces the availability of high-class land for commercial crop growing, and this land is unlikely to be returned to primary production. This affects our commercial food-production capacity.

Column headings:
area_kha = area of land measured in kilohectares (ie multiply by 1000 to get hectares)

This dataset relates to the "High-class land for food production" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

DATA SOURCE: National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)

Adapted by Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand to provide for environmental reporting transparency

Dataset used to develop the "Far fertiliser applied" indicator [available at statisticsnz.shinyapps.io/farm_fertiliser_applied_...]

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This indicator reports industry estimates of nitrogen and phosphorus (as elements) sold in fertiliser products nationally from 1991 to 2019.

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

DATA SOURCE: Fertiliser Association of New Zealand

Adapted by Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand to provide for environmental reporting transparency

Dataset used to develop the "Fertilisers phosphorus and nitrogen applied" indicator [available at statisticsnz.shinyapps.io/farm_fertiliser_applied_...]

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This indicator measures the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus-based fertiliser (Urea, diammonium phosphate, superphosphate and ammonium sulphate) applied to agricultural land from 2002 to 2019 by region and dominant farm type.

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

Farm size describes the area of large commercial properties (registered for goods and services tax) that farm crops and/or livestock. It is important to measure the extent of these agricultural activities because their size influences the extent of their impacts on soil health and water quality.

Column headings:
area_ha = total area of farming activity measured in hectares

This dataset relates to the "Farm size" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

DATA SOURCE: Statistics New Zealand Agricultural Production Survey (APS)

Adapted by Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand to provide for environmental reporting transparency

Dataset used to develop the "Farm numbers and size" indicator [available at www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/farm-numbers-and-size]

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We present the number and area of farms in New Zealand and by region from 2002 to 2019.

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

Farm numbers describes the number of large commercial properties (registered for goods and services tax) that farm crops and/or livestock. It is important to measure the number of large farms involved in these agricultural activities because their extent determines their impacts on soil health and water quality.

Column headings:
num_farms = number of farms

This dataset relates to the "Farm numbers" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.