Ireland's UN SDGs - Goal 15 Life on Land 2022

Data Sources and Additional Information

The 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) are a set of global development targets adopted by the United Nations (UN) member countries in September 2015 to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.   The UN SDGs are driving the global development agenda towards Agenda 2030.

The Sustainable Development Goals National Implementation Plan 2018-2020 is in direct response to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and provides a whole-of-government approach to implement the 17 SDGs. 

This Publication for 'Goal 15 Life on Land 2022' has thirteen SDG indicators which are divided into two main chapters: Ecosystem Conservation and Biodiversity.

Ecosystem Conservation

SDG 15.1.1 Forest area as a proportion of total land area is published by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

Footnotes in the text in relation to SDG 15.1.1 are as follows:

¹Coillte is a state owned company operating in forestry, land-based businesses and added-value processing operations. The company was established as a private limited company under the Forestry Act 1988 which set out its objectives and duties. The company’s shareholders are the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

²Mitchell, J. G. 1995. The Dynamics of Irish Post-Glacial Forests. In: Wood, trees and forests. Royal Irish Academy. Proceedings of a seminar held on 22 and 23 February 1994 Dublin.

³Anonymous 1979. Irish Forestry Policy. National Economic and Social Council. Government Publication Office.

Footnotes for data sources in Table 4.1 are as follows:

¹Rackham, O., 1986. The History of the Countryside. Dent & Sons Ltd., London.

²Aalen, F. H. A., Whelan K. and Stout M. (Eds) 1997. Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape. Cork University Press.

³Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction 1908. Report of the Departmental Committee on Irish Forestry. A. Thom & Co.

⁴Department of Agriculture 1926. Forest Lands and Timber Supply in the Irish Free State. Proceedings of the First International Congress on Sylviculture, Rome, 1926.

⁵Minister for Lands & Agriculture. Dail Eireann, Volume 23, 3rd May 1928.

⁶Report on Forestry Mission to Ireland, 15th February 1951. Published by Food and Agriculture Organisation.

⁷Report on Forestry Mission to Ireland, 15th February 1951. Published by Food and Agriculture Organisation.

⁸Estimate generated from Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture 1964/65.

⁹Estimate generated from Purcell, T.J, 1973. Inventory of Private Forests 1973. Department of Fisheries and Forestry.

¹⁰Estimate generated from Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture 1985.

¹¹National Forest Inventory Republic of Ireland Results 2007. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

¹²National Forest Inventory Republic of Ireland Results 2013. Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

¹³National Forest Inventory Republic of Ireland Results 2017. Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

¹⁴National Forest Inventory Republic of Ireland Results 2022. Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. (Preliminary results)

Another useful reference in relation to deforestation is:

Kaplan, J.O., Krumhard, K.M., Zimmermann, N. (2009) The prehistoric and preindustrial deforestation of Europe. Quaternary Science Reviews 28 (2009) p3016-3034.

SDG 15.1.2 Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type is published by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).

SDG 15.2.1 Progress towards sustainable forest management is published by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

SDG 15.3.1 Proportion of land that is degraded over total land area is published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

SDG 15.4.1 Coverage by protected areas of important sites for mountain biodiversity is covered under SDG 15.1.2 and published by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).

SDG 15.4.2 (a) Mountain green cover index data and (b) Proportion of degraded mountain land - information is being developed.

Biodiversity

SDG 15.5.1 Red list index, information is published by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).

SDG 15.6.1 Number of countries that have adopted legislative, administrative and policy frameworks to ensure fair and equitable sharing of benefits - information is provided on the UN SDG Global Database.

SDG 15.7.1 Proportion of traded wildlife that was poached or illicitly trafficked - information is provided on the UN SDG Global Database and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) website.

SDG 15.8.1 Proportion of countries adopting relevant national legislation and adequately resourcing the prevention or control of invasive alien species - information is provided on the UN SDG Global Database and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) website.

SDG 15.9.1 (a) Number of countries that have established national targets in accordance with, or similar to, Aichi Biodiversity Target 2 of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 in their national biodiversity strategy and action plans and the progress reported towards these targets; and (b) integration of biodiversity into national accounting and reporting systems, defined as implementation of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting - information is provided on the UN SDG Global Database, in Ireland’s National Biodiversity Action Plan and in the CSO's Ecosystem and Environment Accounts.

SDG 15.a.1 and SDG 15.b.1 (a) Official development assistance on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems and (b) revenue generated and finance mobilized from biodiversity-relevant economic instruments - information is provided on the UN SDG Global Database.

SDG 15.c.1 Proportion of traded wildlife that was poached or illicitly trafficked is covered under SDG 15.7.1 section above. Further details can be found in the metadata document for SDG 15.c.1.

Ireland's Population Distribution

The population in each county in Ireland from the preliminary results of the 2022 Census of Population are as follows:

NUTS Regions

	Northern & Western NUTS2 Region		Southern NUTS2 Region		Eastern & Midland NUTS2 Region
NUTS3 Regions	Border	Cavan Donegal Leitrim Monaghan Sligo	Mid-West	Clare Limerick Tipperary	Dublin	Dublin City Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Fingal South Dublin
			South-East	Carlow Kilkenny Waterford Wexford	Mid-East	Kildare Louth Meath Wicklow
	West	Galway Mayo Roscommon	South-West	Cork Kerry	Midland	Laois Longford Offaly Westmeath

Acronyms

DAFM	Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
DCEDIY	Department of Children Equality Disability Integration and Youth
DEFENCE	Department of Defence
DE	Department of Education
DETE	Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
DECC	Department of Environment, Climate and Communications
DFIN	Department of Finance
DFAT	Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
DFHERIS	Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
DoH	Department of Health
DHLGH	Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
DJE	Department of Justice
DPER	Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
OPW	Office of Public Works
REVENUE	Department of Revenue Commissioners
DRCD	Department of Rural and Community Development
DSP	Department of Social Protection
DT	Department of the Taoiseach
DTCAGSM	Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
DT	Department of Transport

 

Tier Classification for Global UN SDG Indicators

All indicators data are classified by the IAEG-SDGs into three tiers based on their level of methodological development and the availability of data at the global level.

Tier Classification Criteria/Definitions:
Tier 1: Indicator is conceptually clear, has an internationally established methodology and standards are available, and data are regularly produced by countries for at least 50 per cent of countries and of the population in every region where the indicator is relevant.
Tier 2: Indicator is conceptually clear, has an internationally established methodology and standards are available, but data are not regularly produced by countries.
Tier 3: No internationally established methodology or standards are yet available for the indicator, but methodology/standards are being (or will be) developed or tested.