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Story: Southern beech forest

Beech forest in New Zealand

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Beech forest in New Zealand

Pure beech forest covers more than 2.9 million hectares of New Zealand. It is the dominant forest cover on the main mountains of the North Island and much of the western South Island, but is absent near the Manawatū Gorge and in central Westland – areas known as beech gaps. Mixtures of beech and conifer–broadleaf forests cover over 1.4 million hectares. There are also a number of isolated stands of beech.

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: Peter Wardle, Vegetation of New Zealand. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991

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How to cite this page

Joanna Orwin, Southern beech forest – Southern beeches, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/map/13299/beech-forest-in-new-zealand (accessed 11 June 2026).

Story by Joanna Orwin, published 1 March 2009.

Comments

Stu McHugh
01 September 2020
Trying to understand the beech gap here in te wai pounamu