15 November 2021
Go to release: Ecosystem Accounts - Grasslands and Croplands 2018
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (15 November 2021) released the frontier publication Ecosystem Accounts – Grasslands and Croplands 2018. Ecosystem accounting aims to provide a coherent and harmonised understanding of ecosystems and their relationships to the economy and the overall beneficiaries of ecosystem goods and services. At international level, the System of Environmental Economic Accounting – Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA) has been developed by the United Nations to establish international standards for the collection of data and compilation of ecosystem accounts. These accounts record the stocks and flows of ecosystem services and track their changes over time. The CSO has also published a separate Information Note to explain the main concepts, definitions and challenges of Ecosystem Accounting.
This publication is classified as a CSO Frontier Series Publication. Ecosystem Accounting is a relatively new area which is still under methodological development at national and international levels.
Grasslands and croplands are the ecosystems where the majority of Ireland’s agricultural activity takes place, and they are important economically, environmentally, and socially. This Frontier Publication examines where grasslands and croplands occur in Ireland, what types of grasslands and croplands they are, and explores some indicators for ecosystem condition.
Commenting on the release, Nova Sharkey, Statistician, said: “Grasslands and croplands covered more than 68% of Ireland in 2018 based on the CORINE Land Cover dataset* produced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Ireland’s land cover is dominated by grasslands, which accounted for almost 56% of land cover in 2018, compared to an EU average of just over 10%. Croplands covered just over 12% of Ireland in the same year, while the EU average was more than 37%.
Donegal had the lowest coverage of grasslands and croplands, at less than 40%. Meath and Monaghan were the counties with the highest percentage of grasslands and croplands, at more than 90%.
Six grassland habitats listed under Annex I of the Habitats Directive** occur in Ireland and covered less than 3,000 hectares in 2019. The overall conservation status of Annex I grasslands habitats in 2019 was reported as bad or inadequate, and most show a deteriorating trend.”
*Ireland’s CORINE Land Cover dataset for 2018 was produced by the EPA for the European Environment Agency (EEA) using satellite imagery from Copernicus and national level data, which included data from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Coillte, and the Forest Service.
**Under Article 17 of the EU Directive on the Conservation of Habitats, Flora and Fauna (92/43/EEC), the National Parks and Wildlife Service reports the conservation status of specific habitats to the European Commission. These habitats are known as Annex I habitats as they are listed under Annex I of the Directive. A wide range of data on habitats is reported under Article 17, including their geographical range, spatial area, structure and functions, and conservation status.
This publication is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Publication. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this experimental analysis. Publishing outputs under the Frontier series allows the CSO to provide useful new information to users and get informed feedback on these new methods and outputs, while at the same time ensuring that the limitations are well explained and understood.
Nova Sharkey (+353) 1 498 4217 or Tom Healy (+353) 1 498 4153
or email ecosystems@cso.ie
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