Classification System

Version 0.3

Developed by Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research

Whakataukī

Kotahi te aho ka whati, ki te kāpuia e kore e whati.

One strand of flax is easy to break, but many strands together will stand strong.

— Kīngi Tāwhiao

The New Zealand Land Use and Management (NZLUM) classification system adapts the Australian Land Use and Management (ALUM) classification for New Zealand.

Purpose and adaptation

ALUM provides a strong data structure for standardisation. Its CC-BY 3.0 Australia Licence explicitly allows adaptation. While some ALUM classes are retained, and the basic structre of the classification system is familiar, NZLUM significantly adapts some classes and adds new classes and attributes relevant to New Zealand.

Key Changes from ALUM v8:

• Irrigation removed as a primary class; it is now a management practice attribute.
• Water removed as a primary class; it is now treated as a independent attribute.

The rationale for this adjustment is to recognise situations where water is a land cover occuring on a wider land use (such as a reservoir on a farm), and to recognise irrigation more consistently as a farm management practice, and not a land-use in itself.

Treatment of water

Rather than defining water as a land-use class, as in ALUM, NZLUM records it as an attribute with a controlled vocabulary (i.e. using terms, lake, reservoir, river, wetland, marine). including subtypes (e.g., lake hydro).

Attributes

NZLUM follows ALUM’s approach of using attributes of land-use to record additional information. These take the form of “land management practices” or “commodities”, and adopt defined terminology.

Such attributes are considered optional, but they should be included where information permits.

Attributes

• Commodity: captures information about crops and livestock (useful for biosecurity, economic modelling, nutrient modelling, greenhouse gas estimation, site-selection, etc.).
• Management practices: operational details such as irrigation, rotations, dairy wintering off, etc.
• Tenure: land_estate and land_status reflect ownership or rights affecting land use.
• Zoning: council zones, such as those proposed in the NZ Planning Standards (2019) allow the linking of planning and actual (current) use and land use potential.

• Water: controlled terms describing various forms water bodies can take.

Attributes are categorical.

Nothing in this specification should prevent the extension (widening) of the data representation, e.g. to include continuous data to accomodate stocking rate information, demographic information, or other attributes.

Tip

Attributes allow for end-use reclassification and filtering (e.g. irrigated vs. non-irrigated) without requiring the use of multiple land-use classes that are otherwise coherent.

Classes

Classes in NZLUM are hierarchical by design, this allows for both the aggregation of broad land-use categories and the disaggregation of specific subclasses for analysis and reporting.

Note

Each primary class represents a distinct type of human interaction with the land.
Use attributes like commodity, management_practice, and tenure to add context and detail.

Hierarchical structure

Classes are arranged hierarchically:

• Primary classes (1–3) - broad categories of land use
• Secondary and tertiary subclasses - progressively more specific (e.g. 2.2.0 = Grazing systems, 2.2.1 = Dairy)

Each subclass adds definitional precision.

Primary Classes

At the highest tier, NZLUM divides land into three main primary classes, reflecting the degree of modification and purpose of use:

1.0.0 Conservation and Minimal Use

Land with a relatively low level of human intervention. May be reserved by government for conservation, or protected under other legal or administrative arrangements. Areas can have multiple uses, but nature conservation is central. Some land may remain unused due to deliberate choice or circumstance.

1.0.0 Conservation and Minimal Use

2.0.0 Production Agriculture and Plantations

Land used primarily for primary production, where native vegetation has largely been replaced by introduced species through clearing, sowing, or fertiliser application. Includes plantation forestry, pasture, cropping, fodder, and a wide range of horticulture. If irrigation infrastructure or water-take consents exist, record irrigation as a management practice even if it has not been recently applied.

2.0.0 Production Agriculture and Plantations

3.0.0 Built Environment

Land uses involving high levels of modification of natural processes, typically associated with settlements and infrastructure. Such activities can substantially remodel vegetation, surface and groundwater systems, and terrain to support urban, industrial, or service functions.

3.0.0 Built Environment

Relationship with attributes

Classification of land-use class can include categorical attributes describing:

• Commodity - e.g. cattle beef, kiwifruit, pine
• Management practice - e.g. irrigated, wintering off, organic
• Tenure and zoning - land_estate or land_status
• Land cover - current vegetation or surface cover
• Water - hydrological or marine feature type
• Permeability - sealed / unsealed

References

¹ Cavanagh J, Whitehead B 2022. Land-use classification for state of the environment soil-quality monitoring. Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research LC4146. https://www.envirolink.govt.nz/assets/Envirolink/2222-GSDC170-Land-use-classification-for-state-of-the-environment-soil-quality-monitoring-and-reporting.pdf

² Cavanagh J, Whitehead B 2023. Enabling flexibility and connectivity in land-use classification. Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research LC4309. https://www.envirolink.govt.nz/assets/Envirolink/R18-4-Enabling-flexibility-and-connectivity-in-land-use-classification-for-state-of-the-environment-soil-quality-monitoring.pdf

³ Rutledge D et al. 2016. Waikato Integrated Scenario Explorer (WISE). Waikato Regional Council Tech Report #3506882.
⁴ Price R, Rutledge D, Fraser M 2010. New Zealand Land Use Database. Envirolink Project LCRX0901.
⁵ MfE 2019. National Planning Standards. https://environment.govt.nz/publications/national-planning-standards/ ⁶ LINZ 2010. Rating Valuations Rules 2008 (v1 Oct 2010) – LINZS30300. https://www.linz.govt.nz/resources/regulatory/rating-valuations-rules-2008-version-date-1-october-2010-linzs30300