The West Coast’s land cover profile is characterised by:
- A predominance of forest cover (about two thirds of land area), of which most is indigenous forest.
- A substantial area of grassland/other herbaceous vegetation cover (17% of land area), of which more than half is tussock grassland.
- Scrub/shrubland cover is predominantly comprised of indigenous scrub/shrubland.
- A relatively substantial area of natural bare/lightly vegetated surfaces (e.g. gravel or rock, permanent snow and ice, etc.).
The key changes in land cover between 1996 and 2018 in the West Coast region are:
- Indigenous forest and scrub/shrubland (both exotic and indigenous scrub/shrubland) have decreased in area by 6,500 ha and 7,500 ha, respectively.
- Exotic grassland and exotic forest have increased in area by 13,300 ha and 400 ha, respectively.
The likely drivers and potential implications of the changes are:
- From 1996 to 2018 there has been an increase in land developed for farming and forestry. In particular, due to growth in the dairy industry and other pastoral uses, the majority of indigenous forest and scrub/shrub land altered since 1996 is now used for intensive agricultural. Some of these areas were grazed at a low intensity, then further developed to increase productivity.
- Alluvial and hard rock gold mining over this period has also led to the removal of indigenous vegetation in areas like Ianthe, Ross, Inangahua, and Grey Valley. This land was often reinstated as pasture or exotic forest.
- Several factors, regional, national, and international, associated with the forestry industry over this period could have influenced the increase in exotic forestry. During the mid-1990’s the price for timber and logs was higher than it had been for some time. From this it was assumed that future returns would be good, thus encouraging people to plant, particularly on land that had marginal value for other purposes. Also, during this period the Forestry Encouragement Grant Scheme was in full operation. This scheme provided grants to cover part of the cost of preparing and planting new land.
- On a regional level, the then state owned logging company Timberlands were given additional financial support to plant high value exotic species to maintain a viable timber industry in South Westland, following cessation of native logging. Timberlands purchased and planted approximately 5,000 ha of marginal freehold land bought from Landcorp and private owners.
