Ecosystem Service Accounts - Crop Pollination 2018

Total ecosystem area assessed for the provision of suitable habitat for wild pollinators

A total of 542,000 hectares of land in Ireland were assessed to determine the likelihood that they provide suitable habitat for wild pollinators for the period of 2018 (Table 3.1). This is equal to 8% of Ireland’s total terrestrial and transitional ecosystems in the same period. The assessed area is based on the maximum flight distance of 1 km from 22,000 hectares of wild pollinator-dependent crops (See Table 4.1, Chapter 4 for a breakdown of these crops). The ecosystem types in these areas were primarily Grasslands (314,000 hectares) and Croplands (177,300 hectares), with Forests & Woodlands (20,900 hectares) being the next most frequent. Given the location of the wild pollinator-dependent crops, most of these ecosystems were located in the east and southeast of the country (Map 3.1).

Ecosystems estimated to provide suitable habitat for wild pollinators

Of the ecosystems assessed, only 15,800 hectares (3%) were estimated to have moderate-to-high suitability for providing habitat for wild insect pollinators. This included 8,500 hectares of Forests & Woodlands, 6,100 hectares of Grasslands and 400 hectares each of Croplands, Heathlands & Shrubs, and Inland Wetlands. Around 67% of Heathlands & Shrubs and 41% of Forests & Woodlands provided suitable habitat (Table 3.1, Figure 3.1). By contrast, whilst Grasslands were the second most abundant ecosystem type providing habitat, this was only 2% of their overall extent in the assessed ecosystem area.