New Zealand Land Resource Inventory (NZLRI) – Soil

What is the New Zealand Land Resource Inventory – Soil?

Five key physical soil and land resource factors that drive land use capability were mapped, which included soil, rock type, slope, presence and severity of erosion, and vegetation (Lynn et al. 2009).

NZLRI Soil

10 October 2021

The digital soil map for New Zealand

The NZLRI is a powerful tool as it provides consistent coverage across the entire country at a nominal scale of 1:50 000.
Inventory, land-use capability and extended legend information can be used in planning at national, regional, district, and catchment levels.
Learn more about the development of NLRI

Key features

  • Soil and land resources mapped at the national scale.
  • A powerful tool as it provides consistent coverage across the entire country at a nominal scale of 1:50 000.
  • Maps five characteristics or attributes (rock, soil, slope, erosion, vegetation).
  • Includes Land Use Capability assessments, derived Fundamental Data Layers and Fundamental soil layers.
  • Includes pastoral and forestry production parameters, plus administrative and natural boundaries. 

NZLRI – Soil

Soil and land resources mapped at the national scale.

The New Zealand Land Resource Inventory (NZLRI) is a national database of physical land resource information. It comprises two sets of data (an inventory of five physical factors and a Land Use Capability rating) compiled using stereo aerial photography, published and unpublished reference material, and extensive field work.


Coverage: The whole of mainland New Zealand  Date: Data based on soil surveys dating back as far as the 1960s License: Soil data are available Landcare Data Use Licence