Land Tables - Page 2

Livestock numbers reflect changes in the number of farmed beef and dairy cattle, deer, and sheep across New Zealand. Livestock farming is a widespread land use in this country. It is important to monitor livestock numbers, because concentrated numbers, or large increases in numbers, can affect the indigenous biodiversity, soil health, and water quality.

File contains total livestock numbers by region for each year over the period 1994–2015

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.

One third of our land area is held as public conservation land and managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC) to protect natural and cultural heritage, retain areas of wilderness and enable recreation opportunities. Although the use of public conservation land makes an important socio-economic contribution at the local, regional and national level, increasing human activities on our protected areas can put pressure on these environments and degrade their cultural and aesthetic value. These activities can range from recreational users on our Great Walks to commercial activities such as guiding, grazing, or building structures.

This measure reports on the capacity and number of booked bed nights in huts and campsites on nine Great Walks operating in national parks, by walk, hut/campsite and month.

Land (whenua) is taonga tuku iho (cultural property, heritage) and of special importance to Māori. As the whakapūmautanga (legacy for the future), whenua provides for cultivation and storage of traditional foods and plants – for customary use and mahinga kai, and helps sustain each generation.

We report only on the available data we have, which cover a subset of Māori land used for primary production activities. The main land use types covered are grassland, forest plantation, bush and scrub, and horticulture.

The number of farms involved in agricultural activities, and how they are changing, is important because agricultural activities can affect soil health and water.

Agricultural activities include beef and sheep, dairy, arable, horticulture, deer, pigs, and other livestock.

New Zealand has unique indigenous plants and animals that are our national taonga (treasures). Because most are endemic (found nowhere else in the world) New Zealand makes an important contribution to global biodiversity. Biodiversity is important for ecosystem processes, te ao Māori including mahinga kai (customary food gathering), and culture and recreation.

The conservation status of our biodiversity represents their risk of extinction. This data covers the conservation status, and most-recent change in status, of native and resident taxa for which we had sufficient information on abundance and distribution. This includes bats, birds, earthworms, lichens, plants, reptiles and frogs, snails, spiders, and insects.

We also include the number of species that have had a genuine change in conservation status between assessment periods.Where conservation status changed, this measure also looked at the NCTCS listings done in 2012 for birds (Robertson et al, 2017); 2012 for reptiles (Hitchmough et al, 2015); and 2010 for Orthoptera (Trewick et al, 2012). A change in a species’ conservation status reflects a change in its risk of extinction.

For more information on the Department of Conservation’s Threat Classification System (NZTCS) please refer to: www.doc.govt.nz/nztcs

One third of our land area is held as public conservation land and managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC) to protect natural and cultural heritage, retain areas of wilderness and enable recreation opportunities. Although the use of public conservation land makes an important socio-economic contribution at the local, regional and national level, increasing human activities on our protected areas can put pressure on these environments and degrade their cultural and aesthetic value.

This measure reports on the number of active recreation and non-recreation concessions by activity in each financial year, and the number of active concession operators (concessionaires) by activity in each financial year.

UPDATED 21/04/2017
(See "Land domain updates" page for details; www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/environment/env...)

Different land uses put pressure on the land environment and can result in changes to soil health. Healthy soil supports the productivity of agriculture and forestry, and filters water to help prevent waterways becoming contaminated. Soils are considered healthy if they fall within the target ranges for the indicators of acidity, fertility, organic reserves, and physical status.

This dataset relates to the "Soil health and land use" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

For raw data see "2015 land aotearoa soil health data for release.xlsx" at data.mfe.govt.nz/x/LTBnRL

The status of our bird communities is an important indicator of the condition of our ecosystems. Many indigenous birds play key ecological roles, including dispersing seeds and pollinating flowers. In some situations, exotic bird species (not indigenous to New Zealand) can partially fulfil these roles. A reduction in the distribution and/or decline in numbers for common and widespread species can equate to large losses of individuals and ecosystem integrity. By measuring the composition of bird communities across public conservation land (forest and non–forest sites) we can monitor how they change over time.

This measure reports on the predicted richness (diversity) of bird species on public conservation land, by monitoring site, 2013–2016.

The status of our bird communities is an important indicator of the condition of our ecosystems. Many indigenous birds play key ecological roles, including dispersing seeds and pollinating flowers. In some situations, exotic bird species (not indigenous to New Zealand) can partially fulfill these roles. A reduction in the distribution and/or decline in numbers for common and widespread species can equate to large losses of individuals and ecosystem integrity. By measuring the composition of bird communities across public conservation land (forest and non-forest sites) we can monitor how they change over time.

This measure reports on the occupancy of indigenous and exotic bird species on public conservation land, by wood cover, averaged over surveys from 2013 to 2016.