Deforestation in New Zealand

Deforestation in New Zealand has been a contentious environmental issue in the past, but native forests (colloquially called "the bush") now have legal protection, and are not allowed to be tampered with by humans.

[2] Prior to Māori arrival, New Zealand was almost entirely forested, besides high alpine regions and those areas affected by volcanic activity.

Māori began settling the country about 1000 years ago[3] and by 1840, when Europeans were a small part of the total population, the forest cover was significantly reduced from 85% down to 53%.

There are records from the 1840s stating that 50 to 100 ships could be tied to shore in Kaipara Harbour and be filled with lumber from giant floating booms that could hold 10,000 logs at a time.

[7] Besides as a form of lumber, many pioneers found the kauri trees valuable for the gum they produced to make varnish and linoleum, primarily in the north island near Auckland.

As most of New Zealand was covered with thick bush, the slash-and-burn technique was often used to prepare land wanted for farming in forested areas.

[12] By removing New Zealand native forest, humans created a landscape with the climatic conditions to allow the short-horned grasshopper Phaulacridium marginale to expand its range across the country.

That Stats NZ estimate was made up of areas over 0.5 ha (1.2 acres) with at least 10% crown cover and a potential minimum height of 5 m (16 ft) at maturity.

The logging of native trees is governed by a permit system administered by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and must be shown to be sustainable.

[21] In 2014 special legislation was passed to allow the extraction of large numbers of rimu trees which had toppled in a storm in the South Island.