On the map
Where the trees were cut, and when
Every patch of forest cleared since 2011, coloured by how long ago it happened. In a pine forest the age of the cut-over decides what you walk into, so it’s the first thing to look at once you have the permit.
What the colours usually mean on the ground
Roughly, for radiata pine on a typical site. Growth varies with the site and the year it was replanted.
- 0–3 yearsOpen ground: slash and stumps, replanted trees mostly below head height. Long sight lines, slow walking.
- 4–7 yearsRegrowth closing in, often dense and taller than you. Hard to see into; the edges and any open strips are where you’ll see.
- 8 years and overThe canopy is closing and little grows underneath, so it hunts more like standing forest.
Why hunters look at it: clearing changes what grows and what you can see. Overseas research on elk found they used logged blocks most in the first few years after harvest. We haven’t found the same research for New Zealand, and the map can’t tell you whether animals are there. If you hunt pine forests and it doesn’t match what you see, tell us.
Forests with a published way in
Each of these publishes how to get a hunting permit. The map link opens over the forest with the clearing layer on.
- Ernslaw One forests · Southland · see the cutting
- Kaingaroa and Rotoehu forests · Bay of Plenty · see the cutting
- City Forests — Waipori and Silverpeaks · Otago · see the cutting
- Tasman Pine Forests · Nelson/Tasman · see the cutting
- OneFortyOne forests · Nelson/Tasman, Marlborough · see the cutting
- Rayonier Matariki Forests · Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Canterbury, Southland · open the map
- Aratu Forests · East Coast · see the cutting
- Port Blakely forests · Canterbury · open the map
- Greater Wellington parks and forests · Wellington/Kapiti · see the cutting
- Juken forests · Northland, Wairarapa, East Coast · open the map
How much is cleared each year
Hectares of tree-cover loss detected across mainland New Zealand and Stewart Island, in patches of about 3 ha or more.
- 201163,194 ha
- 201273,451 ha
- 201386,598 ha
- 201487,388 ha
- 201574,480 ha
- 201691,888 ha
- 201787,879 ha
- 201892,569 ha
- 201986,387 ha
- 202075,312 ha
- 202187,052 ha
- 202277,190 ha
- 202377,229 ha
- 202464,498 ha
- 202571,484 ha
What it is, and what it isn’t
- Satellite-detected tree-cover loss from Hansen, University of Maryland, Google, USGS and NASA (Global Forest Change, CC BY 4.0). Mostly forestry harvest; slips, storms and fire show up too.
- The year is when the loss was detected. Edges are approximate, to about 50 m.
- It says nothing about who may go there. Most cut-over is private forestry: you need the forest owner’s permit, and an active harvest is closed to everyone.
- Updated once a year when the dataset is. Details on our sources page.