Back to Top

 Skip navigation

Press Statement

Preasráiteas

20 May 2021

Ecosystem Accounts - Peatlands and Heathlands 2018

Peat bogs and Moors & Heathlands covered almost 16% of Ireland in 2018
  • Peat bogs and Moors & Heathlands were mostly located on the west coast, in the midlands and in the Wicklow Mountains
  • More than 44% of the national area of Peat bogs and Moors & Heathlands occurred in protected areas
  • Agriculture, Peat production, Forestry and Cultural activities were the main land uses for Peat bogs and Moors & Heathlands
  • Almost 5% of Peat bogs have been affected by drainage works under Arterial Drainage and Drainage Districts schemes
  • The overall conservation status of Annex I peatland and heathland habitats in 2019 was mainly reported as bad and deteriorating
  • Up to 2020, almost 12,000 hectares of peatlands had been targeted by restoration projects

Go to release: Ecosystem Accounts - Peatlands and Heathlands 2018

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (20 May 2021) released the frontier publication Ecosystem Accounts – Peatlands and Heathlands 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 today to explain the main concepts, definitions and challenges of Ecosystem Accounting.

This publication is classified as a CSO Frontier output. Ecosystem Accounting is a relatively new area which is still under methodological development at national and international levels.

Commenting on the release, Sylvie Clappe, Statistician, said: “Based on the CORINE Land Cover 2018 dataset, Peat bogs and Moors & Heathlands covered almost 16% of Ireland in 2018. Peat bogs accounted for almost 14% while less than 2% were Moors & Heathlands.

Almost 70% of Peat bogs were in the western counties of Donegal, Kerry, Galway and Mayo, while almost 70% of Moors & Heathlands were in Cork, Donegal, Kerry and Wicklow in 2018.

More than 44% of Peat bogs and Moors & Heathlands occurred in the Natura 2000 network and/or in the areas of national importance protected under the National Heritage Areas (NHA) and proposed NHAs in 2018.

Mostly through extensive commonage grazing, more than 60% of Peat bogs and Moors & Heathlands were used for Agriculture in 2018. The next largest land use categories were Peat production for Peat bogs at more than 5%, and Forestry for Moors & Heathlands at less than 2%.

Reported by the National Parks and Wildlife Service under the EU Directive on the Conservation of Habitats, Flora and Fauna (92/43/EEC), the overall conservation status of peatland and heathland habitats, as listed in Annex I of the EU Directive, is reported as bad or inadequate, and most show a deteriorating trend.

Up to 2020, almost 12,000 hectares of peatlands had been targeted by restoration projects, and more than 20,000 hectares had been under rehabilitation works.

Editor's Note:

Two different datasets have been used to report the spatial extent of peatlands and heathlands in this publication: CORINE Land Cover 2018, from the Environmental Protection Agency, and data reported by the National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) under Article 17 of the EU Directive on the Conservation of Habitats, Flora and Fauna (92/43/EEC).

CORINE Land Cover provides national maps of land cover and change in land cover for five different years starting from 1990 onwards. It is based on the interpretation of satellite imagery data which the EPA enhanced using in situ national land use data obtained from different organisations.

Under Article 17 of the EU Directive on the Conservation of Habitats, Flora and Fauna (92/43/EEC), NPWS 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.

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.

For further information contact:

Sylvie Clappe (+353) 1 498 4042 or Tom Healy (+353) 1 498 4153

or email ecosystems@cso.ie

-- ENDS --