Ecosystem Accounts - Peatlands and Heathlands 2018

This publication is part of a series of thematic releases that the Central Statistics Office (CSO) plans to publish under Ecosystem Accounts. It gives preliminary information on the spatial extent and condition of peatlands and heathlands in 2018. Statistics on the restoration and rehabilitation of peatlands are also provided.

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.

Ecosystem Accounting is a relatively new area which is still under methodological development at national and international levels. The CSO publishes Ecosystem Accounts – Peatlands and Heathlands 2018 as a frontier publication to highlight this use of new methods. To learn more about the CSO Frontier Publication, refer to this link.

Key findings of this publication are:

• Based on the CORINE Land Cover dataset, the classes Peat bogs and Moors & Heathlands cover almost 16% of the national territory in 2018. Peat bogs accounted for almost 14% while Moors & Heathlands represented less than 2%. Both land cover types are mostly located on the west coast, in the midlands and in the Wicklow Mountains;

• Almost 70% of Peat bogs occur in Donegal, Galway, Kerry and Mayo, while almost 70% of Moors & Heathland are in Cork, Donegal, Kerry and Wicklow;

• More than 44% of the national area of Peat bogs and Moors & Heathlands occur in protected areas (i.e. Natura 2000 network designed under European Directives, along with National Heritage Areas (NHAs) and proposed NHAs which are areas of national importance defined under the Wildlife Amendment Act (2000));

• Agriculture, Peat production, Forestry and Cultural activities were the main uses for Peat bogs and Moors & Heathlands. More than 60% of the total area of each land cover type are used for Agriculture (i.e. mostly extensively grazed commonages in upland areas). The second largest land use categories are Peat production for Peat bogs (more than 5%), and Forestry for Moors & Heathlands (less than 2%);

• Almost 5% of Peat bogs have been affected by drainage works under Arterial Drainage and Drainage Districts schemes;

• Peatland and heathland habitats listed under Annex I of the EU Directive on the Conservation of Habitats, Flora and Fauna (92/43/EEC), represented 8% of the national territory in 2019. They were mainly located along the west coast, in the midlands and the Wicklow Mountains;

• Blanket bogs, Dry heaths and Wet heaths made up more than 90% of the Annex I peatland and heathland habitats in Ireland;
• Over 45% of Annex I peatland and heathland habitats occurred in Special Areas of Conservation;

• The overall conservation status of Annex I peatland and heathland habitats in 2019 was reported as bad or inadequate, and most show a deteriorating tend;

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

• There is a clear need for a national map of ecosystem extent and condition.

Go to the next chapter: Introduction