Notices of status of forest land
You can check land titles and Māori Land Court records to see whether the land has been involved in the ETS. These are called "notices of status of forest land" in the ETS legislation. If you own the land or are considering buying it, they can let you know about possible ETS obligations.
You can ask us to remove these notices in certain circumstances. We can only remove them if it's lawful for us to do so.
When an ETS notice of status of forest land is recorded on land records
These notices are recorded on the title when:
- post-1989 forest land is registered in the ETS as standard forestry
- post-1989 forest land is registered in the ETS as permanent forestry
- pre-1990 forest land received an allocation of New Zealand Units (NZUs or units) – these were allocated in 2010-2012 under the forest land allocation plan
- pre-1990 forest land is made exempt from ETS obligations
- land becomes pre-1990 or post-1989 offsetting land.
Find out more about the different kinds of forest land in the ETS
Notices of status of forest land do not outline all the details of your responsibilities in the ETS. Prospective buyers (and their lawyers) can get the notice from Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) to find out why it was added to the land title.
Search for and request land titles – Land Information New Zealand
If pre-1990 forest land doesn't have a land status notice, you may still be liable for ETS obligations. The owners at the time might not have applied for an allocation of units under the forest land allocation plan. If units weren't allocated to pre-1990 forest land and it hasn't been granted an exemption, there won't be a notice of status of forest land on the title. You may need to pay (surrender) units if you deforest this land.
Find out what you need to do when you deforest pre-1990 forest land
If you are unsure whether the land is pre-1990 forest land, you may wish to seek professional advice from a consultant. You can also request a formal decision from us, called an "emissions ruling".
Find out about requesting an emissions ruling
When we can remove land status notices
We can remove (cancel) notices from land titles in certain circumstances, including:
- if all the registered post-1989 forest on the land title is removed from the ETS
- by request, when a land title is subdivided and only for the new titles that do not contain any of the forest land to which the notice relates
- if pre-1990 forest land has been deforested, and all liabilities to pay (surrender) units for the deforestation have been met
- where a notice has been recorded against a title in error.
To remove a notice, we must be satisfied that the land involved:
- is no longer the type of land recorded in the notice, and
- has not changed to another type of land in the ETS.
We will not remove notices from land titles where the notice still applies. For example:
- if the land title still contains post-1989 forest land registered in the ETS
- if the land title still contains pre-1990 forest land
- if the pre-1990 forest land is declared exempt from ETS obligations and the pre-1990 forest land has been deforested.
Requesting the removal of a notice of status of forest land
In a situation where we can lawfully remove the notice from a land title, you can request its removal. To make this request:
- submit an enquiry in Tupu-ake (the forestry ETS online service) through the "Contact Te Uru Rākau" button on the party home page, or
- if you do not have access to Tupu-ake, email forestryets@mpi.govt.nz
