Farmland
The proportion of New Zealand converted to farmland is large by world standards – 52 per cent, compared with the world’s overall 37 per cent (in 1993).

Conifer Forests
Besides pastoral farming, the other major land use is forestry. The native forests that once covered 85 per cent of New Zealand are today standing on only 23 per cent of our land.  Not surprisingly, the surviving native forest is mostly in mountain areas, unsuitable for farming.  In most places, lowland forests have been reduced to mere fragments.

Plantations of exotic conifers cover about 1.6 million hectares and are expanding over former farmland at the rate of about 70,000 hectares a year.  Because some kiwi live in exotic forests, plantation forests can reverse some of the habitat loss to farmland.

Introduced Pests
The biggest threat to the remaining native forests is destruction of trees and seedlings by introduced possums, deer and goats.  By eating seedlings and making native forests more open, these introduced bowsing animals may be playing a part in the kiwi's demise by making the forest more accessible for mammalian predators.

Along with invasive weeds, these exotic pests pose a serious risk to our native biodiversity.

New Zealand’s duneland ecosystems have been greatly reduced.  The remaining 50,000 hectares have been heavily modified by grazing, fires, drainage, coastal developments and introduced trees and grasses.  A further 250,000 hectares of sand dunes are covered in pasture, pine forests or scrub.  Inter-dune wetlands are one of New Zealand’s most threatened ecosystems.

Kiwi Habitat Still Being Cleared
Today, kiwi habitat (mainly native forest and scrub) is still being cleared at an alarming rate for pasture or forestry.

Habitat loss takes its toll on kiwi in three main ways:

• First, kiwi are at risk as the clearing, burning and roller crushing takes place
• Second, it concentrates both kiwi and their predators into the remaining habitat
• Third, it affects the kiwi’s social organisation. Kiwi are ferociously territorial.  Research shows their territories range in size from 2-hectares to 100-hectares, depending on the species and habitat.  However, individual territories seem to average 40-hectares. This means that an isolated area of bush of 1000-hectares can, on average, support 25 pair of kiwi.  Less habitat means more competition for space, more boundary wars, less breeding, and more birds pushed out into farmland, where they are more likely to fall foul of dogs