This chapter provides a breakdown of Ireland’s ecosystem extent accounts for 2018 and 2021 by county and by local authority. The ecosystems covered include 11 terrestrial and transitional ecosystems at level one of the EU ecosystem typology, which are further broken down into 30 ecosystems at level two of the typology. The figures provided for each ecosystem are the extent (in thousands of hectares) for 2018 and 2021, as well as the net change between both periods.
Dublin (44,800 hectares) and Cork (31,700 hectares) had the largest extents of Settlements & Other Artificial Areas in 2021 (Table 3.1, Map 3.1). They also had the largest extents of most corresponding level two ecosystems, with the extent of Continuous Settlement Area being almost three times higher in Dublin (21,700 hectares) compared to anywhere else (Table 3.2, Map 3.2). The exception to this was Discontinuous Settlement Area, which was highest in Cork (9,300 hectares) and Wexford (6,700 hectares), respectively.
By contrast, Leitrim (2,000 hectares) and Longford (2,400 hectares) had the lowest extents in Settlements & Other Artificial Areas (Table 3.1, Map 3.1). These two counties had the lowest extents of all corresponding level two ecosystem types, except for Other Artificial Areas (e.g. graveyards, greenhouses and antiquity sites), values for which were zero in 14 counties (Table 3.2, Map 3.2). This ecosystem is represented by many small features which fall below the minimum mapping unit (1 hectare) applied when mapping the ecosystem source data. Values of zero may also be explained by rounding.
Across the local authorities within counties with separate county and city councils, Settlements & Other Artificial Areas were greatest in Cork (23,000 hectares) and Fingal (15,000 hectares) County Councils, and lowest in Galway City Council (3,700 hectares) and Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council (8,400 hectares) (Table 3.3, Figure 3.1). Within Dublin, Fingal County Council had the largest extent of Urban Greenspace (6,400 hectares), whereas Cork County Council had the largest nationally (8,200 hectares). Galway City Council had the lowest extent of Urban Greenspace, at 2,000 hectares (Table 3.4, Figure 3.2).
In 2021, Grassland was highest in Cork (495,700 hectares) and Galway (372,200 hectares), and lowest in Dublin (21,400 hectares) and Louth (42,700 thousand hectares; Table 3.1, Map 3.1). This generally corresponded to Sown Pastures & Other Grass at level two of the ecosystem typology. However, when considering only Natural & Semi-Natural Grassland, Leitrim (62,400 hectares) and Mayo (40,900 hectares) had the highest extents, whereas Wexford and Louth had the lowest at 1,600 hectares each (Table 3.3, Figure 3.2). The relatively large extents of Natural & Semi-Natural Grassland in Galway and Cork (76,100 hectares in total) were almost exclusively within their respective County Council administrative areas (75,900 hectares in total; Table 3.4, Figure 3.2).
Cork (92,200 hectares) and Galway (63,800 hectares) also had the largest extents of Forest & Woodland in 2021, whereas Dublin and Louth had the lowest, at 3,500 hectares each (Table 3.1, Map 3.1). Cork also had the largest extents of all level two Forest & Woodland ecosystem types, with the exception of Coniferous Forest (characterised as forest sites dominated by Scots Pine), which was highest in Wicklow at 700 hectares (Table 3.2, Map 3.2). After Cork (69,200 hectares), Mayo (52,100 hectares) and Galway (51,500 hectares) had the second largest extents of Plantations (i.e. coniferous forestry). Broadleaved Deciduous Forest was highest in Cork (15,100 hectares), while Offaly (9,500 hectares) and Tipperary (8,700 hectares) had the second and third largest extents, respectively (Table 3.2, Map 3.2).
Forest & Woodland was very low within the City Council administrative areas (Table 3.3, Figure 3.1). In Dublin, Forest & Woodland within South Dublin (1,800 hectares) and Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown (1,200 hectares) County Councils comprised mainly Plantations. By contrast, of the 600 hectares of Forest & Woodland within Fingal County Council, 500 hectares were Broadleaved Deciduous Forest (Table 3.4, Figure 3.2).
Heathland & Shrub (or Scrub & Heathland at level two of the ecosystem typology) was most common in Donegal (110,600 hectares), Kerry (95,500 hectares) and Mayo (55,800 hectares), with several counties (Kildare, Longford, Meath and Westmeath) having none recorded for 2018 or 2021 (Table 3.1, Map 3.1). This ecosystem was completely absent in the City Council administrative areas.
Cropland (corresponding almost completely to Annual Cropland at level two) was generally most frequent in the southern and southeastern counties (Table 3.1, Map 3.1). Annual Cropland was most frequent in Wexford (71,300 hectares), Cork (63,400 hectares) and Meath (45,600 hectares), and least common in Leitrim (300 hectares), Sligo (500 hectares) and Cavan (600 hectares; Table 3.1). Of the City Councils, Annual Cropland (1,500 hectares) was only observed in Cork City Council (Table 3.4, Figure 3.2). Of the 19,000 hectares of Annual Cropland in Dublin, most were located within the administrative areas of Fingal (16,900 hectares) and South Dublin (1,900 hectares) County Councils.
These ecosystems mainly included the level two ecosystem Lakes & Ponds, which were most frequent in Galway (29,30 hectares), Mayo (22,300 hectares) and Roscommon (10,200 hectares; Table 3.2, Map 3.2). By contrast, several counties had 100 hectares or less (Dublin, Laois, Louth, Waterford, Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny).
Rivers & Canals, which corresponded mainly to Rivers & Streams at level two, were most frequent within Cork (1,200 hectares), Roscommon (1,200 hectares) and Galway (900 hectares; Table 3.2, Map 3.2). However, most counties had less than 200 hectares of this ecosystem type, which was mainly because most had areas per hectare that were too small to be mapped. Therefore, where this was the case, they were mapped as part of their broader (i.e. surrounding) ecosystem context.
These included Marine Inlets & Transitional Waters and Coastal Beaches, Dunes & Wetlands. Marine Inlets & Transitional Waters were most common in Clare (16,100 hectares) and Limerick (7,500 hectares), where they were mainly represented by large area of Estuaries & Bays (Table 3.2, Map 3.2). The transitional ecosystem types Intertidal Flats (1,300 hectares) and Coastal Lagoons (600 hectares) were most common in Donegal and Wexford, respectively. Of the City Councils, Dublin and Cork City Councils had the largest extents of Marine Inlets & Transitional Waters, with Cork City Council having 600 hectares of Estuaries & Bays and Dublin City Council having 1,100 hectares spread across all three level two ecosystem types (Table 3.4, Figure 3.2).
Donegal (6,300 hectares) and Mayo (5,400 hectares) had the largest extents of Coastal Beaches, Dunes & Wetlands (Table 3.1, Map 3.1). These were mainly made up of Coastal Dunes, Beaches & Sandy & Muddy Shores at level two (Table 3.1, Map 3.1). Of the other level two ecosystem types of this class, Rocky Shores were most common in Galway (2,700 hectares) and Clare, whereas Coastal Saltmarshes & Salines were most frequent in Kerry (700 hectares), Clare (600 hectares) and Donegal (500 hectares).
These ecosystems were most frequent in Clare (8,300 hectares), Kerry (6,900 hectares) and Mayo (5,200 hectares; Table 3.1, Map 3.1), where they mainly corresponded to Bare Rock at level two (Table 3.2, Map 3.2). By contrast, Cavan, Leitrim, Louth and Monaghan had 100 hectares or less of this ecosystem type. The other level two ecosystem type in this class was Semi-Desert, Desert & Other Sparsely Vegetated Areas (i.e. sparsely vegetated and bare soil), and this was most common in Cork (1,800 hectares), Galway (1,200 hectares) and Offaly (1,000 hectares). Cork City Council, Fingal County Council and South Dublin County Council all had 100 hectares each of this ecosystem type (Table 3.4, Figure 3.2). Otherwise, Sparsely Vegetated Ecosystems did not occur in Dublin.
This ecosystem expanded in all counties between 2018 and 2021, with increases being greatest for Meath (1,500 hectares, 11.7%), Kilkenny (1,400 hectares, 19.7%), Cork (1,300 hectares, 4.3%) and Kildare (1,200 hectares, 7.9%; Table 3.1). At level two of the ecosystem typology, these increases mainly corresponded to gains in Discontinuous Settlement Area – expanding most in Kilkenny (1,600 hectares, 59.3%), Meath (1,300 hectares, 28.3%) and Cork (1,000 hectares, 12.2%; Table 3.2). In Cork, this mainly included an additional 1,100 hectares (13.8%) within the Cork County Council administrative area (Table 3.4, Figure 3.2). Gains in Urban Greenspace and Infrastructure & Other Industrial Areas were less than 500 hectares in all counties.
Between 2018 and 2021, Offaly (2,000 hectares, 1.6%) and Cork (1,900 hectares) had the largest expansions in Grassland, whereas Leitrim (700 hectares, -0.7%), Cavan (700 hectares, -0.5%) and Roscommon (700 hectares, -0.4%) had the largest reductions (Table 3.1). Generally, expansions were due to gains in Sown Pastures & Other Grass, whereas reductions were mainly explained by decreases in Natural & Semi-Natural Grassland (Table 3.2). Of note, Leitrim (1,100 hectares, -1.7%) and Mayo (800 hectares, -0.8%) had the biggest reductions of this ecosystem type. Within Cork and Galway, Grassland expansions were almost all within the County Council administrative areas (Table 3.3, Figure 3.1).
No Cropland increases were observed for any county and instead declined across most. The largest reductions were in Cork (3,500 hectares, -5.2%), Offaly (2,700 hectares, -15.7%) and Meath (2,700 hectares, -5.6%; Table 3.1). These changes corresponded almost exclusively to reductions in Annual Cropland (Table 3.2). The reductions which occurred in Cork and Galway were also effectively all within the County Council administrative areas (Table 3.4, Figure 3.2).
This ecosystem had net increases across most counties, and were highest in Roscommon (1,100 hectares, 4.1%), Cavan (600 hectares, 2.9%) and Westmeath (600 hectares, 3.5%; Table 3.1). At level two of the ecosystem typology, most of these increases were in Plantations and were greatest for Clare (1,200 hectares, 2.8%), Cork (800 hectares, 1.2%) and Roscommon (800 hectares, 3.8%; Table 3.2). Broadleaved Deciduous Forest also increased across most counties, but to a lesser degree, with the largest increase observed being for Westmeath (500 hectares, 8.3%). The only Forest & Woodland level two ecosystem type which declined across most counties was Transitional Forest & Woodland Shrub (Table 3.2). These were greatest for Clare (800 hectares, -57.1%) and Kerry (600 hectares, - 50.0%). Forest & Woodand did not change in extent within any of the City Council administrative areas (Table 3.3, Figure 3.1), and increased only marginally (in the case of Plantations) within Cork (800 hectares, 1.2%) and Galway (500 hectares, 1.0%) County Councils (Table 3.4, Figure 3.2).
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.