| Land environment | Total area (hectares) of land environment | Percentage of total land area (%) | Area (hectares) of land environment with native land cover | Percentage of land environment with native land cover (%) | Area (hectares) of native land cover with legal protection | Percentage of native land cover with legal protection (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A – Northern lowlands | 1,849,768 | 7.05 | 337,759 | 18.26 | 84,754 | 25.09 |
| B – Central dry lowlands | 691,023 | 2.64 | 70,437 | 10.19 | 6,526 | 9.26 |
| C – Western and southern North Island lowlands | 636,039 | 2.43 | 27,014 | 4.25 | 5,783 | 21.41 |
| D – Northern hill country | 2,100,703 | 8.01 | 927,561 | 44.15 | 469,804 | 50.65 |
| E – Central dry foothills | 1,323,134 | 5.05 | 591,154 | 44.68 | 229,675 | 38.85 |
| F – Central hill country and Volcanic Plateau | 5,241,257 | 19.99 | 1,901,125 | 36.27 | 999,483 | 52.57 |
| G – Northern recent soils | 336,969 | 1.28 | 56,205 | 16.68 | 18,274 | 32.51 |
| H – Central sandy recent soils | 135,305 | 0.52 | 47,804 | 35.33 | 31,187 | 65.24 |
| I – Central poorly drained soils | 120,999 | 0.46 | 6,159 | 5.09 | 2,390 | 38.80 |
| J – Central well-drained recent soils | 292,689 | 1.12 | 20,779 | 7.10 | 3,277 | 15.77 |
| K – Central upland recent soils | 160,758 | 0.61 | 63,831 | 39.71 | 19,936 | 31.23 |
| L – Southern lowlands | 801,869 | 3.06 | 104,945 | 13.09 | 59,356 | 56.56 |
| M – Western South Island recent soils | 220,444 | 0.84 | 121,532 | 55.13 | 98,584 | 81.12 |
| N – Eastern South Island plains | 2,044,301 | 7.80 | 163,565 | 8.00 | 8,780 | 5.37 |
| O – Western South Island foothills and Stewart Island | 1,412,650 | 5.39 | 1,279,893 | 90.60 | 1,161,159 | 90.72 |
| P – Central mountains | 3,247,880 | 12.39 | 3,029,280 | 93.27 | 2,313,193 | 76.36 |
| Q – Southeastern hill country and mountains | 3,276,038 | 12.49 | 1,780,287 | 54.34 | 622,273 | 34.95 |
| R – Southern Alps | 1,929,739 | 7.36 | 1,927,944 | 99.91 | 1,816,279 | 94.21 |
| S – Ultramafic soils | 33,485 | 0.13 | 32,513 | 97.10 | 31,059 | 95.53 |
| T – Permanent snow and ice | 157,144 | 0.60 | 157,128 | 99.99 | 153,603 | 97.76 |
| Unspecified | 211,114 | 0.81 | 116,986 | 55.41 | 29,486 | 25.20 |
| Total | 26,223,310 | 100.00 | 12,763,904 | 48.67 | 8,164,862 | 63.97 |
Notes:
(1) This report uses a total land area for New Zealand derived from the Land Environments of New Zealand classification tool. It results in a smaller total land area than that derived by other means.
(2) Ultramafic soils are derived from molten rock (magma) that are rich in iron and magnesium and have a low silica content.
Data source: Landcare Research.
Table 12.5: Native land cover by land environment, and legally protected native land cover, 2006, within each land environment
March 2021
© Ministry for the Environment