This publication is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release as it may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example new administrative data sources.
From 2000 to 2018, Settlements & Other Artificial Areas (e.g., buildings, construction sites, and roads) increased by 16% and Forests & Woodlands rose by 13%, while Croplands and Inland Wetlands declined by 5% and 4% respectively.
Of this 16% expansion in Settlements & Other Artificial Areas, 95% was due to the conversion of Grasslands and Croplands.
Of the 13% growth in Forests & Woodlands, 42% was due to the conversion of Inland Wetlands and 41% from Grasslands.
Cork had the highest percentage of the national extent of Croplands (12%), Grasslands (12%), and Forests & Woodlands (11%) in 2018, while about 21% of the national areas of Heathlands & Shrubs and Inland Wetlands occurred in Donegal and Mayo respectively.
In 2018, Grasslands were the predominant ecosystem types in all counties except for Leitrim, which was dominated by Croplands at 42%, Dublin, by Settlements & Other Artificial Areas at 42%, and Donegal, by Inland Wetlands at 37%.
The highest percentage increase in Forests & Woodlands occurred in Kerry and Meath at almost 25% between 2000 and 2018.
Of the 10,871-hectare expansion of Forests & Woodlands in Kerry between 2000 and 2018, almost 8,000 hectares (72%) were converted from Inland Wetlands.
The Extent Accounts for Ireland were compiled using the Corine Land Cover Accounting Layers datasets, developed by the European Environment Agency, for the years 2000, 2006, 2012, and 2018. The land cover classes were grouped into 12 categories of ecosystem types and a balancing item. The classification used follows the ecosystem typology developed by Eurostat as part of the upcoming legal module on ecosystem accounting under EU regulation 691/2011.
The first iteration of Ireland's National Land Cover Map was published in February 2023 offering high-resolution mapping of Ireland for 2018. While differences exist between Corine Land Cover Accounting Layers and the National Land Cover Map, for this CSO Frontier Series publication we focus on Corine Land Cover Accounting Layers as the data source to allow for time-series analysis as is required when publishing Extent Accounts of this type.
All the percentages of coverage of ecosystems are calculated including both terrestrial and transitional ecosystems (e.g., estuaries and bays) but excluding marine ecosystems. Percentages will differ if transitional ecosystems are excluded.
This publication is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output. The Extent Accounts were developed for the period 2000-2018 at both national and county level. For further details about the methodologies applied in this publication, refer to the Background Notes.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (24 October 2023) released the CSO Frontier Publication Ecosystem Extent Accounts 2000-2018. This publication presents the areas of Ireland's ecosystems and tracks their change over 18 years (2000-2018). The accounts were compiled from the Corine Land Cover Accounting Layers datasets developed by the European Environment Agency (see Editor's Notes).
Commenting on the results of this release, Sylvie Clappe, Statistician, said: "Released as part of the CSO Frontier Series, this publication presents for the first time the national Ecosystem Extent Accounts of Ireland. These accounts explore what ecosystem types are found in Ireland, gives their extent, and tracks their change between 2000 and 2018. They are at the foundation of all the other ecosystem accounts such as condition accounts and ecosystem services accounts. Ecosystem Extent Accounts have been compiled at national level but have also been compiled for each individual county.
National Level
Including both terrestrial and transitional ecosystems (e.g., estuaries and bays), almost 70% of the country was covered by Grasslands (55%) and Croplands (12%), while 14% was occupied by Inland Wetlands in 2018. Agroecosystems (i.e., Grasslands and Croplands) dominated most parts of the country except along the west coast and some of the midlands which were dominated by Inland Wetlands.
Over the 2000-2018 period, Settlements & Other Artificial Areas (e.g., buildings, roads, construction sites, green urban areas) had the biggest percentage increase at 16%, while Forests & Woodlands had the second largest growth at 13%. These areas of growth were counter-balanced by declines in the areas of Croplands (5%), Inland Wetlands (4%), and Heathlands & Shrubs (2%). Most of these changes occurred during the 2000-2006 period.
Of the 16% rise in Settlements & Other Artificial Areas, almost 95% was due to the conversion of agroecosystems with about 16,000 hectares of Grasslands and 7,500 hectares of Croplands. The expansion of Forests & Woodlands resulted from the change of Inland Wetlands at 42% and Grasslands at 41%, representing a total of almost 70,000 hectares.
About 80% of the reduction in Croplands between 2000 and 2018 resulted from the conversion into Grasslands, while more than 85% of the reduction in Inland Wetlands was changed to Forests & Woodlands.
County Level
Cork had the highest percentage of the national extent of Croplands (12%), Grasslands (12%), and Forests & Woodlands (11%) in 2018, while about 21% of the national areas of Heathlands & Shrubs and Inland Wetlands occurred in Donegal and Mayo respectively. About 40% of the national area of Lakes & Reservoirs occurred in Galway (23%) and Mayo (17%).
In 2018, Grasslands were the most prevalent ecosystems in all counties except for Leitrim, Dublin, and Donegal. Leitrim was dominated by Croplands at 42%, Dublin by Settlements & Other Artificial Areas at 42%, while 37% of Donegal was covered by Inland Wetlands.
Mirroring the national trend, Settlements & Other Artificial Areas and Forests & Woodlands increased in all counties from 2000 to 2018. The largest expansion of Settlements & Other Artificial Areas occurred in Dublin (3,888 hectares), Kildare (2,387 hectares), and Meath (2,142 hectares).
Kerry and Meath were the counties with the largest growth of Forests & Woodlands at more than 25% from 2000 to 2018. Of the 10,871-hectare expansion in Kerry, almost 8,000 hectares (72%) came from Inland Wetlands, while about 2,300 hectares (21%) were previously Croplands."