Forestry allocation: NZUs for pre-1990 forest

About the forestry allocation

The decrease in land value for some pre-1990 forest landowners as a result of reduced land-use flexibility will be partially offset by the Government allocating landowners New Zealand Units (NZUs). The allocation plan is on the Government’s legislation website: Climate Change (Pre-1990 Forest Land Allocation Plan) Order 2010.

How much do people get?

The Government will allocate NZUs to owners of pre-1990 exotic forest land. These NZUs will be allocated on the basis of the eligible area and purchase date of the owners’ forest landholdings.

Owners of pre-1990 forests bought before 1 November 2002 will receive 60 NZUs per hectare. Those who bought their forest on or after 1 November 2002 will receive 39 NZUs per hectare. In addition, 18 NZUs per hectare have been set aside for future Treaty claimants who receive Crown Forest Licence (CFL) land.

The NZUs will be transferred to landowners in two parts, with the first part to be transferred before 31 December 2012, and the second part after 2012, as set out in the table below.

  Transferred before 31 December 2012 Transferred after 31 December 2012
Owners of forest bought before 1 November 2002 23 NZUs per hectare 37 NZUs per hectare
Owners of forest bought on or after 1 November 2002 15 NZUs per hectare 24 NZUs per hectare
CFL land as at 1 Jan 2008 7 NZUs per hectare 11 NZUs per hectare

Last updated: 16 December 2011