The System of Environmental Economic Accounting - Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA) is a spatially-based, integrated statistical framework for organising biophysical information about ecosystems, measuring ecosystem services, tracking changes in ecosystem extent and condition, valuing ecosystem services and assets and linking this information to measures of economic and human activity. It is an integrated statistical framework adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission.
The SEEA-EA outlines five sets of ecosystem accounts:
As part of a recent amendment to Regulation (EU) No 691/2011 on environmental economic accounts, it is now mandatory to report ecosystem extent, condition and services (physical flow) accounts in line with SEEA-EA. Member States will transmit these to Eurostat for the first time this year. The monetary flow of ecosystem services and the monetary value of ecosystem assets will not need to be accounted for under the new regulation.
The ecosystem extent accounts published last year for 2018 and 2021 have been revised as part of this release. Therefore, this release should now be used instead. Revisions relate to the ecosystem classifications (Table 4.1), methodology and data sources (Table 4.2), which have been updated as follows:
Geoprocessing: Map compilation requires the processing and merging of a wide range of different geospatial datasets into intermediate 10 m resolution maps. A critical step is the subsequent spatial aggregation to 100 m (or 1 hectare) resolution, which functions to reduce mapping error and ensure ecosystems are mapped at the correct scale. This process has now been optimised to ensure that level one ecosystem assets (e.g. an expanse of Settlements & Other Artificial Areas) are classified in a more spatially explicit way based on their corresponding level two ecosystem types (e.g. Discontinuous Settlement Areas and Infrastructure & Other Artificial Areas). This update, which improves overall mapping and account accuracy, is described in the methodology document in the methodology section of this release.
Implausible and negligible conversions between ecosystems: As recommended by Eurostat in the new EU Ecosystem accounts handbook, implausible conversions between ecosystem types are now discounted and minimum conversion thresholds are applied. Implausible ecosystem conversions are those which are ‘ecologically or physically unrealistic or extremely rare in the EU even with human intervention’. This includes, for example, conversions between Heathland & Shrub and Marine Inlets & Transitional Waters. Minimum conversion thresholds include all conversions between any two ecosystems which are less than 100 hectares and ecosystem asset changes which are smaller than ecosystem-specific thresholds (e.g. 5 hectares for conversions of any ecosystem type into Intertidal Areas). Tables of all implausible conversions and thresholds can be found in the methodology document accompanying this release.
Mapping hierarchy: To improve classification accuracy, the order in which different data sources were classified and mapped has been updated. This mapping hierarchy can be viewed in the methodology document in the methodology section of this release.
Classification accuracy: For 2024, this has now been assessed based on validation of a stratified random sample of points against EsriTM and Sentinel-2 true colour imagery. The purpose of this was to quantify how accurately each level one ecosystem type was classified in the mapping. A detailed breakdown of this assessment is given in the methodology document in the methodology section of this release.
Mires, Bogs & Fens: The data source for Mires, Bogs & Fens is the ‘peatland’ class from the 2018 National Land Cover Map (NLCM). However, this was updated for 2018, 2021 and 2024 with additional peatland areas from Sentinel 2 satellite imagery using machine learning. The purpose of this was to identify an expected, small number of peatland areas which are not in the NLCM, in addition to enabling detection of small conversions between Inland Wetlands and other ecosystem types such as Grassland and Forest & Woodland. The method (random forest) used to identify peatland areas is a form of supervised machine learning. To learn more about why and how this method was used, please visit this information note here.
| Ecosystem type (Level 1) | Ecosystem type (Level 2) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Settlements & Other Artificial Areas (1) | Continuous Settlement Area (1.1) |
Also designated as continuous urban area or fabric. The Continuous Settlement Area type is assigned when settlement structures and transport networks are dominating the surface area. At least 80% of the land surface in the ecosystem asset is covered by impermeable features such as buildings, roads and artificially surfaced areas. |
| Discontinuous Settlement Area (1.2) |
Also designated as discontinuous urban area or fabric. The Discontinuous Settlement Area type is assigned when settlement structures and transport networks associated with vegetated areas and bare surfaces are present and occupy significant surfaces in a discontinuous spatial pattern. The impermeable features such as buildings, roads and artificially surfaced areas range from 30 to 80 % land coverage in the ecosystem asset. |
|
| Infrastructure (1.3) |
This includes land used for transport infrastructure such as roads, airports and ports, including associated areas (e.g. planted trees and bushes lines or spontaneous vegetation, such as grass verges), and artificial areas other than buildings that are used for commercial and industrial purposes including extraction sites, dump areas, and construction sites. |
|
| Urban Greenspace (1.4) | Areas with vegetation within or partly embraced by urban fabric. This class is assigned for urban greenery, which usually has recreational or ornamental character and is usually accessible for the public. Includes small urban water bodies. Areas with soil sealing above 30% should be moved to class 1.1 or 1.2. | |
| Other Artificial Areas (1.5) |
Areas that are artificial but do not fall under the other level 2 categories of settlements and artificial areas. This includes e.g. permanent green houses, cemeteries even if predominantly green. Countries should also record here types of artificial land of specific national importance, such as archaeological sites or others, if they do not belong to any of the level 2 categories 1.1 -1.4. Countries should inform what they cover in this category in a footnote in the questionnaire. |
|
| Cropland (2) | Annual Cropland (2.1) |
Cropland planted for annually or regularly harvested crops other than those that carry trees or shrubs. They include fields of cereals, of sunflowers and other oil seed plants, of beets, legumes, fodder, potatoes, and other forbs. Croplands comprise intensively cultivated fields, fallow land, temporary grass for silage and grazing as well as traditionally and extensively cultivated crops with little or no chemical fertilisation or pesticide application. Faunal and floral quality and diversity depend on the intensity of agricultural use and on the presence of borders of (semi-)natural vegetation and woody structures between fields. Includes non-permanent greenhouse installations such as film tunnels. Small semi-natural elements which are associated with agricultural land use, such as hedges, ponds, grassy margins etc., are considered part of this ecosystem type. |
| Permanent Crops (2.3) |
Crops not under a rotation system which provide repeated harvests and occupy the land for a long period before they are renewed. Mainly plantations of woody crops, e.g. vineyards, fruit and berry plantations, olive groves. Excludes pastures, grazing lands and forests. Small semi-natural elements which are associated with agricultural land use, such as hedges, ponds, grassy margins etc., are considered part of this ecosystem type. Includes burnt areas of this type. |
|
| Other Farmland (2.6) |
Other types of farmland not included in the other categories of cropland such as nurseries, Christmas tree plantations and bioenergy grasses and short rotation coppice. Small semi-natural elements which are associated with agricultural land use, such as hedges, ponds, grassy margins etc., are considered part of this ecosystem type. |
|
| Grassland (3) | Sown Pastures & Other Grass (Modified Grasslands) (3.1) |
Stable grassland characterised by agricultural use or strong human disturbance. Floral composition dominated by Graminaceae and shaped by human activity. Regularly re-sown and fertilised and used for grazing or mechanical harvesting of grass. Small semi-natural elements which are associated with agricultural land use, such as hedges, ponds, grassy margins etc., are considered part of this ecosystem type. |
| Natural & Semi-Natural Grasslands (3.2) |
Grasslands under no or moderate human influence. Mostly low productivity grasslands composed of native species adapted to the local environment. Can be under agro-forestry use. Often situated in areas of rough, uneven ground, steep slopes or wetter areas; frequently including rocky areas or patches of other (semi-)natural vegetation. Small semi-natural elements which are associated with agricultural land use, such as hedges, ponds, grassy margins etc., are considered part of this ecosystem type. Includes burnt areas of this type. |
|
| Forest & Woodland (4) | Broadleaved Deciduous Forest (4.1) |
Woodlands and forests dominated by summer-green non-coniferous trees that lose their leaves in winter. Includes woodland with mixed evergreen and deciduous broadleaved trees, provided that the deciduous cover exceeds that of evergreens. The proportion of conifers should not exceed 25%. Includes burnt areas of this type. |
| Coniferous Forests (4.2) |
Vegetation formation composed principally of trees, including shrub and bush understory, where coniferous species predominate. The proportion of deciduous trees should not exceed 25%. Includes burnt areas of this type. |
|
| Mixed Forests (4.4) |
Vegetation formation composed principally of trees, including shrub and bush understorey, where neither broadleaved nor coniferous species strongly predominate (i.e. <75% deciduous and <75% coniferous trees). Includes burnt areas of this type. |
|
| Transitional Forest & Woodland Shrub (4.5) |
Transitional forests and woodland shrub. Includes vegetation that is always shrubland and areas of temporarily cleared forest (as part of forest management). Sporadic grazing use may occur. Includes burnt areas of this type. |
|
| Plantations (4.6) |
Monoculture plantations or plantations strongly dominated by one or few species of non-European coniferous and broadleaved trees with very sparse or lacking undergrowth, e.g. eucalyptus plantations. Forest stands of single or mixed species consisting of native and/or non-native trees species that have long been established in European ecosystems and have diverse undergrowth typical for forest ecosystems should be classified as part of types 4.1 to 4.4. If not possible to distinguish plantations, these areas should be attributed to the classes 4.1 – 4.4. Includes burnt areas of this type. |
|
| Heathland & Shrub (5) | Scrub & Heathland (5.2) |
Vegetation with low and closed cover, dominated by bushes, shrubs, dwarf shrubs (heather, briars, broom, gorse, laburnum etc.) and herbaceous plants, including semi-natural/successional stages and mature stages of development. Includes burnt areas of this type. |
| Sparsely Vegetated Ecosystems (6) | Bare Rocks (6.1) |
Scree, cliffs, rock outcrops, including areas of active erosion, rocks and reef flats outside marine influence, inland salt planes. At least 90% of area of the ecosystem asset is covered by rocks. Rocks within a zone up to 100m from the high-water mark can be classified as coastal ecosystems. |
| Semi-Desert, Desert & Other Sparsely Vegetated Areas (6.2) |
Non-coastal habitats with less than 30% vegetation cover (other than in crevices of rocks, screes or cliffs) which are characterised by very low water availability. They include areas which are sparsely vegetated due to land degradation. |
|
| Inland Wetlands (7) | Inland Marshes & Other Wetlands On Mineral Soil (7.1) |
Low-lying land usually flooded in winter, and more or less saturated by water all year round. Vegetation is composed mainly of rushes, sedges, and some reed and shrub. Other types of this class include reedbeds and springs. |
| Mires, Bogs & Fens (7.2) |
Wetlands, with the water table at or above ground level for at least half of the year, dominated by mosses, herbaceous or ericoid vegetation. Includes inland saltmarshes and waterlogged habitats where the groundwater is frozen. Excludes the water body and rock structure of springs and waterlogged habitats dominated by trees or large shrubs. Includes bog degradation stages dominated by heathland but excludes wet heathlands on mineral soils which support limited peat formation. Includes peat extraction sites. Includes burnt areas of this type. |
|
| Rivers & Canals (8) | Rivers & Streams (8.1) |
Natural watercourses, such as rivers, streams etc. (even though often modified by man) serving as water drainage channels. |
| Canals, Ditches & Drains (8.2) |
Artificial watercourses serving as water drainage or transport channels. |
|
| Lakes & Reservoirs (9) | Lakes & Ponds (9.1) |
Natural (but sometimes modified) water bodies with presence of standing water surface during the entire year (except in very dry years for some types). |
| Artificial Reservoirs (9.2) |
Artificial water bodies with presence of standing water surface during most of the year. Developed mainly for water supply or energy generation purposes. |
|
| Marine Inlets & Transitional Waters (10) | Macrophyte communities and biogenic reefs (of class 10) (10.1) |
Intertidal areas shaped by the presence (>25% of the grid cell) of plant and animal communities of two types: a) Intertidal macrophyte communities which comprise different vegetation types occurring in the intertidal zone and near-shore marine areas, in particular brown, green and red algae, seagrass and/or other coastal macrophytes; b) Biogenic structures occurring in the intertidal zone and near-shore marine areas, formed by different types of shellfish or worms. |
| Transitional waters (10.2) |
Transitional waters which represent mosaics of other ecosystem types and have been included by convention as ecosystems of special interest. These are estuaries, deltas and lagoons. When these mosaic ecosystems are reported, it is important to avoid double counting and not to report their composite ecosystems of class 10 twice (once in 10.1 and second time under another sub-class of class 10). Excluded are: areas of estuaries, deltas and lagoons above the high-tide mark. These are to be classified in the respective class of 11. |
|
| Intertidal areas (10.3) |
Coastal areas under tidal influence between the low and high sea water level and where vegetation and sessile animals do not cover >25% of the grid cell. Isolated sandbanks can be special features of such areas. Intertidal areas of bays are included. Excluded are: coastal beaches (see 11.1 and 11.2) and other areas above the high-tide mark. |
|
| Anthropogenic structures and modified ecosystems (of class 10) (10.4) |
Man-made structures in the intertidal zone and transitional waters with an intended installation on a longer-term to permanent basis (i.e. at least a couple of accounting periods) including aquaculture and energy infrastructure, salines and other areas where human activities have permanently or in a long term modified the physical aspects of ecosystems. |
|
| Coastal Beaches, Dunes & Wetlands (11) | Coastal dunes and fine sediment shores (11.1) |
Coastal landforms formed by the deposition of fine sediment, such as sandy beaches, dunes (and associated dune slacks), muddy shores and the like. The class includes salt flats formed on fine sediment. |
| Rocky, boulder and coarse sediment shores (11.2) |
Beaches of gravel, pebble or cobble, and cliffs, rock outcrops, rock plateaus and boulders, reef flats situated above the high-water mark and normally up to 100 m from it. Areas of active erosion are included. |
|
| Coastal halophytic wetlands (11.3) |
Vegetated areas in the coastal zone regularly inundated and dominated by halophytic (salt tolerant) plants. |
|
| Marine ecosystems (coastal waters, shelf and open ocean) (12) |
Marine Ecosystems (Coastal Waters, Shelf & Open Ocean) n.f.d.* |
All marine area up to the low-tide mark. This ranges from near-shore to deep-water marine ecosystems. |
| *not further defined |
The ecosystem extent accounts reported in this release were produced using compiled ecosystem extent maps for 2018, 2021 and 2024. These maps were created using a wide range of EU and national level geospatial data (Table 4.2). Detailed information on how this data was classified and crosswalked to the EU ecosystem typology can be found in the methodology document in the methodology section of this release.
The base land cover on which these ecosystem accounts are based was CLCplus Backbone (2018, 2021 and 2023 versions) from the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS).
High-Resolution Layer – Vegetated Land Cover Characteristics (HRL-VLCC) – Crop Type from the CLMS was used to map the Cropland ecosystem type. CLMS Ploughing indicator and Grassland Mowing Events data were used in the mapping of Natural & Semi-Natural Grasslands. Data for the ecosystem Macrophyte Communities & Biogenic Reefs was sourced from the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet). For information on how these data were used, see the methodology document in the methodology section of this release.
The following national data, which are also listed in Table 4.2, were used for the accounts presented in this release:
PRIME 2 – DLM Core national cadastral vector database from Tailte Éireann: This was used as a data source for ecosystems which are characterised by artificial surfaces, water, exposed surfaces or public greenspace.
National Land Cover Map (NLCM) produced for 2018 from Tailte Éireann: This was used as a data source for Coastal Beaches, Dunes & Wetlands, Inland Wetlands and Bare Rocks. Note, the ‘peatland’ class from the NLCM was based on random forest classification of Sentinel 2 satellite imagery from Copernicus, which is the EU’s earth observation programme. More information on this approach can be found in the Information Note on the use of machine learning in this release.
National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) habitat survey data: These include 2019 Article 17 reporting data and habitat maps of Natura 2000 designated sites (Site-Specific Conservation Objectives) in Ireland. These were used for mapping of Coastal Beaches, Dunes & Wetlands, Bare Rocks, Natural & Semi-Natural Grasslands and Intertidal Areas.
Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM): The LPIS database, which contains crop type descriptions for over 1.3 million farm parcels, was used to classify both Grassland and Cropland ecosystem types. LPIS is used by DAFM to administer payments to farmers under area-based schemes such as the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS).
Administrative data for forestry and afforestation: This included DAFM private forest data and the Coillte forestry estate, which were use as the main data sources for the different Forest & Woodland ecosystem types.
EU Water Framework Directive transitional waters: The Transitional Waterbodies data reported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) were used as data sources for the ecosystem type Transitional Waters.
Licensed aquaculture sites provided by DAFM: These sites were used to classify Anthropogenic Structures & Modified Ecosystems.
Several boundaries and statistical geographies were used in the compilation of the ecosystem extent maps and accounts given in this release. These include:
Ecosystem accounting area (EAA): This is used to delineate the marine EAA from the terrestrial and transitional EAA. It was developed by the CSO and draws from a range of different data sources. The production of the EAA and its source data are detailed in the methodology document in the methodology section of this release.
County and local authority boundaries: Spatial disaggregation of the compiled ecosystem extent map to the level of each local authority was done using the local authority and county boundaries generated from the 2024 National Statutory Boundaries from Tailte Éireann.
| Data name | Source | Data structure | Reference years (for these accounts) | Update frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLCplus Backbone | Copernicus | raster | 2018, 2021, 2023 | two years |
| High resolution layer (HRL)-vegetated land cover characteristics (VLCC) – Crop Types | Copernicus | raster | 2018, 2021, 2024 | annual |
| High resolution layer (HRL)-vegetated land cover characteristics (VLCC) – Ploughing | Copernicus | raster | 2018, 2021, 2024 | annual |
| High resolution layer (HRL)-vegetated land cover characteristics (VLCC) – Mowing | Copernicus | raster | 2018, 2021, 2024 | annual |
| CORINE Land Cover (CLC) | Copernicus | raster | 2018, 2024 | six years |
| Sentinel-2 Level-2A | Copernicus | raster | 2018, 2021, 2024 | every five days but used to produce an annual time composite image |
| PRIME2 - DLM Core cadastral map | Tailte Éireann | vector | 2018 Q1, 2021 Q4, 2025 Q1 | quarterly |
| National Land Cover Map (NLCM) | Tailte Éireann | vector | 2018 | six years |
| CSO Built Up Urban Areas | CSO | vector | 2022 | reviewed with every Census cycle |
| Water Framework Directive (WFD) - Transitional Waterbodies | EPA | vector | 2018, 2021 | six years |
| Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) | DAFM | vector | 2018, 2021, 2024 | annual |
| Private forests | DAFM | vector | 2018, 2021, 2024 | annual |
| Forest estate | Coillte | vector | 2018, 2021, 2024 | annual |
| SSCO Natura 2000 sites | NPWS | vector | 2011-2025 | irregular |
| Article 17 Grasslands | NPWS | vector | 2019 | six years |
| EMODnet seagrass | EC DG MARE | vector | 2025 | irregular |
| EMODnet macroalgae | EC DG MARE | vector | 2025 | irregular |
| EMODnet biogenic substrate | EC DG MARE | vector | 2025 | irregular |
| INFORMAR sediments | GSI and Marine Institute | vector | 2025 | irregular |
| Licensed aquaculture sites | DAFM | vector | 2021 | irregular |
All national data were converted from vector to raster data format, which was the format used by the CLCplus Backbone base land cover map. National data were also all re-projected from the Irish Transverse Mercator (ITM) projection to the European Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area (LAEA) projection – this was the projection used by CLCplus Backbone and was selected due to its suitability for statistical mapping. All rasterised source data were merged following a classification hierarchy (available in the methodology document in the methodology section of this release) before aggregating from 10 × 10 m to 100 × 100 m (1 hectare) resolution. The final ecosystem type label assigned to each 1-hectare pixel was based on that which was the most common within the 1-hectare space. Given that most of the time, the frequency of the most common ecosystem type was 1, the MMU may also be regarded as 1 hectare (but never greater). The exception to this was Natural & Semi-Natural Grassland, which can be regarded as having an MMU of 25 hectares – this is because the main source for this data was CLC. For a more detailed breakdown of the mapping and classification workflow used to create the maps presented in this release, please see the methodology document in the methodology section of this release.
The accuracy of ecosystem classification in the 2024 ecosystem extent map was measured for each level one ecosystem type, excluding Marine Ecosystems (12). This was done based on a stratified random probability sample (n = 1,600) generated from the compiled ecosystem extent map itself. Samples were validated by CSO Ecosystem Extent Accounts staff against a range of different high resolution satellite and other mapping data. Validated samples were used to perform a confusion matrix analysis. The accuracy statistics from this analysis are given in Table 4.3. More information on the validation process can be found in the methodology document in the methodology section of this release
| Ecosystem type | User's accuracy1 | Producer's accuracy2 | F1 score3 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Settlements & Other Artificial Areas (1)
|
0.960
|
0.941
|
0.950
|
|
Cropland (2)
|
0.950
|
0.991
|
0.970
|
|
Grassland (3)
|
0.973
|
0.981
|
0.977
|
|
Forest & Woodland (4)
|
0.977
|
0.949
|
0.963
|
|
Heathland & Shrub (5)
|
0.974
|
0.942
|
0.958
|
|
Sparsely Vegetated Ecosystems (6)
|
0.857
|
0.980
|
0.914
|
|
Inland Wetlands (7)
|
0.992
|
0.967
|
0.979
|
|
Rivers & Canals (8)
|
1.000
|
1.000
|
1.000
|
|
Lakes & Reservoirs (9)
|
0.985
|
0.957
|
0.971
|
|
Marine Inlets & Transitional Waters (10)
|
0.985
|
0.942
|
0.963
|
|
Coastal Beaches, Dunes & Wetlands (11)
|
0.932
|
0.965
|
0.948
|
|
1Of all classified ecosystems in the mapping, how many are in agreement with the validation
2Of all ecosystems in the validation sample, how many were correctly identified in the mapping
3Harmonic mean of user's and producer's accuracy for overall class accuracy
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For additional information on planned future updates and explanations of ‘rare’ ecosystem conversions – as defined by Eurostat – see the methodology document accompanying this release. For information on coherency with other official data and statistics, please see the quality report which is also associated within this release. Both documents can be found in the methodology section of this release.
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