In New Zealand conifers are widespread and were once a major component of the forests that covered most of the country prior to Maori and European settlement. In Australia, while a few Callitris species are widespread in the more arid interior, the majority are concentrated either in wet temperate forests of Tasmania, the subtropical areas of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales and Queensland or in the biologically diverse southwest of Western Australia. As with many countries settled by Europeans, the native vegetation has undergone significant changes and although only ten species have been assessed in one of the three IUCN categories of threat, another ten have been assessed as Near Threatened. Several more could be assessed as threatened if better information was known about their past distributions. Principal ongoing threats include wildfires, continuing clearance of native forests for agriculture, competition from invasive species and impacts from climate change, especially in Tasmania. Pests and pathogens are a major problem in some areas such as the Kaori forests of New Zealand. Logging of native forests in both Australia and New Zealand has declined significantly in recent years and significant areas where conifers occur are within protected area systems.