New Zealand Land Cover Database

The New Zealand Land Cover Database (LCDB) is a multi-temporal, thematic classification of New Zealand's land cover. It identifies 33 mainland land cover classes (35 classes once the offshore Chatham Islands are included). Classes include extent of vegetation, built environments, water bodies, and bare natural surfaces across New Zealand. The LCDB has been prepared five times from imagery collected in summer 1996/97, summer 2001/02, summer 2008/09, summer 2012/13, and summer 2018/19. The data set was designed to be compatible in theme, scale, and accuracy with Land Information New Zealand's 1:50,000 topographic database. The LCDB is used for many applications, from international and national reporting of the state of the environment, through to the management and monitoring of land cover and land use, helping decision-makers to understand the pressures that different land uses are placing on our land and waterways, along with the implications for biodiversity and the functioning of ecosystems. Funding for LCDB is coordinated by MfE.