Biodiversity in Plantations

New Zealand was historically a forested landscape, however, today, less than 30% of NZ’s land retains forest cover . Today about 1.8 million hectares of NZ is managed plantation forests, largely planted in even aged stands of Pinus radiata, with smaller but locally significant areas of Douglas-fir, Eucalypts and some other non-native species. In addition NZ’s plantation forest estate contains approximately 200,000 hectares of indigenous forest remnants, riparian strips, watercourses and wetlands that are managed by owners of plantation forests.

Many of New Zealand’s common and threatened species find favourable habitats in or adjacent to plantation forests. Pawson et. al. (2010) found that more than 100 threatened species have been recorded in either the plantation forest stands or in the indigenous forest remnants within the plantation estate.

Private land owners, including foresters, are becoming more aware of the importance of caring for our native species on their lands. This portal provides a practical means for those involved in the plantation forest industry to collate biodiversity records from their managed forests, creating a national repository.

The establishment of this project (and the bulk upload facility of NatureWatch NZ) by the New Zealand Forest Owners Association was supported by the Terrestrial and Freshwater Biodiversity Information System (TFBIS) Programme. The TFBIS Programme is funded by the Government to help to achieve the goals of the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy, and is administered by the Department of Conservation.

References:
Pawson, S. M., C. E. Ecroyd, R. Seaton, W. B. Shaw, and E. G. Brockerhoff. 2010. New Zealand’s exotic plantation forests as habitats for threatened indigenous species New Zealand Journal of Ecology 34:342-355. less ↑