ghg-inventory-1990-2013

decay of harvested wood products from afforestation, reforestation and forest
management land
deforestation of all forest types
conversion of land to post-1989 forest
biomass burning
soil disturbance associated with land-use conversion.
New Zealand’s estimates under Article 3.3 of the Kyoto Protocol do not include
emissions associated with nitrogenous fertiliser use on afforested and reforested land,
because these are reported and accounted for in the Agriculture sector. The notation key
IE (included elsewhere) is used for this in the common reporting format tables.
Afforestation and reforestation
The net area of post-1989 forest as at the end of 2013 was 659,332 hectares. The net area
is the total area of new forest established since 1990 (682,189 hectares), minus
the deforestation of post-1989 forest that has occurred since 1 January 1990
(22,857 hectares). Net removals for land included under afforestation and reforestation in
2013 were –17,057.4 kt CO 2 -e, including –16.6 kt CO 2 -e from the harvested wood
products pool.
Deforestation
The area deforested between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 2013 was
168,024 hectares. 13 The area subject to deforestation in 2013 is estimated as
8,453 hectares. In 2013, deforestation emissions were 4,892.2 kt CO 2 -e, compared with
4,642.6 kt CO 2 -e in 2012 (a 5.4 per cent increase).
Forest management
From 2013 New Zealand is also reporting on forest management activities under Article
3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol. This reporting includes emissions and removals on land that
was forest at 1 January 1990, and has not been deforested since 1990. The total area
reported under forest management as at the end of 2013 was 9,272,279 hectares,
equivalent to 34.4 per cent of New Zealand’s total land area. Net removals on this land in
2013 were –8,299.2 kt CO 2 -e, including removals of –3,225.5 kt CO 2 -e from the
harvested wood products pool.
Accounting quantity
From 2013 there are new rules for accounting under the Kyoto Protocol. These include:
the ability to account for changes in the harvested wood products pool for
afforestation, reforestation and forest management land
the ability to exclude from accounting emissions and removals due to natural
disturbance
the ability to exclude from accounting emissions and removals on land that meets the
criteria of carbon equivalent forests
accounting for forest management against a forest management reference level
(FMRL)
13
Deforestation includes deforestation of natural forest, pre-1990 planted forest and post-1989 forest.
New Zealand’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990–2013 39