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 grasslands and croplands in 2018.

Ecosystem Accounting aims to provide a coherent and harmonised understanding of ecosystems and their relationships to the economy and society. 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 extent and condition of ecosystem assets and flows of ecosystem services and track their changes over time. The CSO has recently 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. This publication is part of the CSO’s Frontier Series. More information on the Frontier Series can be found here.

Some key findings of this publication are:

• Grasslands and croplands covered just over 68% (over 4.8 million hectares) of Ireland in 2018 (based on the CORINE Land Cover dataset).
• Grasslands accounted for almost 56% of the land cover in Ireland, much higher than the EU average of 10%.
• Croplands covered more than 12% of the country, lower than the EU average of 37%.
• Grasslands and croplands occurred throughout the country but were absent from some areas along the west coast and in the Wicklow Mountains. Areas of arable land were concentrated in the east and south.
• Donegal was the county with the lowest coverage of grasslands and croplands, at less than 40%, while Dublin, Kerry and Mayo had less than 50%. Meath and Monaghan had more than 90% of their area covered in grasslands and croplands.
• The area of organic farming increased from 1.1% of the Agricultural Area Utilised (AAU) in 2010 to over 1.6% in 2018.
• Just over 4% of the national area of grasslands and croplands occurred in protected areas.
• Almost 65% of the CORINE Land Cover class 'Natural grasslands' occurred in protected areas.
• Six grassland habitats listed under Annex I of the Habitats Directive (EU Directive on the Conservation of Habitats, Flora and Fauna (92/43/EEC)) occur in Ireland, covering less than 3,000 hectares in 2019.
• The overall conservation status of Annex I grassland habitats in 2019 was reported as bad or inadequate, and most show a deteriorating trend.
• There is a clear need for a national map of ecosystem extent and condition.

Go to the next chapter: Introduction