ghg-inventory-1990-2013

period, whichever is later. In practical terms, paragraph 18 means there is a need to
differentiate activities that occurred between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 2007 from
those after this period.
During 2013, an estimated 4,462 hectares of post-1989 forest were established and
8,453 hectares of forest (pre-1990 natural forest, pre-1990 planted forest and post-1989
forest) were deforested.
The afforestation area is estimated from the National Exotic Forest Description survey,
which includes information from the Afforestation Grants Scheme and the East Coast
Forestry Project (Ministry for Primary Industries, 2013). This information ensures that the
activity is attributed to the correct year of onset.
The annual area of deforestation reported between 2008–2012 is based on deforestation
mapping completed in 2013 and supported by earlier deforestation mapping activities.
Deforestation was confirmed using oblique aerial photography, and the year of onset
(destocking year) was determined using annual Landsat imagery. Therefore, the year of
onset of the activity was clearly defined. As no further deforestation mapping was carried
out in 2013, deforestation for that year has been estimated as described in section 6.2.3.
It can take up to four years following the loss of forest cover to determine that
deforestation has occurred. This is because sometimes the landowner does not replant
trees immediately but leaves the land fallow for a period of time. (The process
for monitoring this unclassified deforestation is described in 11.4.3). When deforestation
is finally confirmed, the deforestation is attributed to the year when forest cover
was removed, regardless of whether that forest loss occurred in a previous
commitment period.
11.4 Article 3.3
11.4.1 Demonstration that activities apply
The Climate Change Convention reporting guidelines require that countries provide
information demonstrating that activities under Article 3.3 began on or after 31 December
1989 and before 31 December 2012. Furthermore, countries must demonstrate that these
activities are directly human-induced.
All land in New Zealand is under some form of management and management plan. Land
is managed for a variety of reasons, including agriculture and/or forestry production,
conservation, biodiversity, fire risk management (eg, fire breaks) and scenic and cultural
values. Most land-use changes occur in agriculture and forestry landscapes. All land-use
changes, including deforestation, are therefore a result of human decisions to change the
vegetation cover and/or change the way land is managed.
New Zealand has used satellite imagery collected around the start of 1990, 2008 and 2012
to detect changes in land use between these periods.
To estimate land-use change between 2008 and 2012, Land Use and Carbon Analysis
System (LUCAS) mapping was augmented with data from the Afforestation Grants
Scheme (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 2009c), the NZ ETS (Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry, 2009a) and the National Exotic Forest Description (Ministry
for Primary Industries, 2013). This was used to estimate the total area of afforestation and
reforestation occurring during commitment period one because new planting is often not
visible in satellite imagery for up to three years after planting. Deforestation
occurring between 2008 and 2012 was mapped and estimated from satellite imagery (see
section 6.2.2).
352 New Zealand’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990–2013