Environmental Indicators Ireland 2019

Bird numbers in Ireland, as measured by the common bird index, generally improved over the 1998-2016 period. The Irish index of common birds fluctuated between 100 in 1998 and 122.9 in 2008. In 2016 the index was 121.5.

Ireland, at 6.1% in 2017, had the joint third smallest proportion of total land area among EU Member States designated as terrestrial Special Protected Areas (SPA’s) under the EU Birds Directive. Croatia, at 30.1% had the largest proportion of total land classified as SPA’s in 2017 and Malta, at 5.1%, the smallest.

In 2018, Ireland had 13.1% of its total land area designated as terrestrial Special Areas of Conservation (SAC’s) under the EU Habitats Directive. This was the eight smallest rate in the EU and below the European average of 18%. Slovenia had 37.8% of its total land area designated as SAC's. Denmark, at 8.4%, had the lowest.