Ireland

Ireland is the 2nd largest island in the European Union. It has a land area of over 70 000 km² and a marine area more than 6 times larger at over 426 000 km². Lying off the coast of continental Europe in the Atlantic Ocean it has one land border with the United Kingdom. Ireland is part of the Atlantic biogeographical region. The nature in Ireland is infuenced by its climate and recent geological history. Ireland has a large central plain surrounded by coastal uplands. The highest point is Carrauntoohil at 1 038 m. The longest river is the River Shannon at 360 km, a large portion of which is covered by protected areas. Ireland has a population of 4.6 million people and a population density of 67.6 people per km².

Protected areas

There are a total of   protected areas in Ireland,   Natura 2000 sites -   Special Protection Areas (Birds Directive) and   Sites of Community Importance (Habitat Directive) - as well as   sites designated under national laws.

The average size of protected areas in Europe is lower compared to other regions of the world. This largely reflects the high degree of fragmentation of the land in Europe due to urbanisation, infrastructure and general intensification of land use. At a EU level 50% of protected areas have an area of less than 1 km². The 10 largest marine sites account for 68% of the marine area, while the 10 largest land sites account for 41% of the land area covered by protected areas

Natura 2000 sites in Ireland cover   species and   habitats from the nature directives. The number of species and habitats protected in each site varies depending on the location of the site, the biodiversity in the region, the designation being used, and the features the site is being created to protect. For   sites there is only 1 feature being protected with   sites having more than 20 features.

Protected species

Species protected in Ireland under EU law are protected under the Habitats Directive and under the Birds Directive. The Habitats Directive has a total of 2 500 species on its list, the Birds Directive has a total of 500 species of wild birds protected.

Conservation status: Habitats Directive

 % of species are considered to be Good

 % of species are considered to be Poor

 % of species are considered to be Bad

 % of species are considered to be Unknown

Conservation Status by Taxa

Protected species composition by Taxa

Protected habitats

Habitats protected in Ireland under EU law are protected under the Habitats Directive. The Habitats Directive has a total of 233 habitats on its list.

  habitats protected under EU law in Ireland.

Conservation status: Habitats Directive

 % of habitats are considered to be Good

 % of habitats are considered to be Poor

 % of habitats are considered to be Bad

 % of habitats are considered to be Unknown

Conservation Status by Group

Habitat composition by Group

Ecosystems

Read about Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services (MAES) activities in Ireland here.

Policy

MAES in Ireland:

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Green infrastructure in Ireland:

At the national level in Ireland, the governmental body currently most concerned with policy relevant to GI is the Department for Environment, Community and Local Government.

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National Biodiversity strategy for Ireland:

To report on progress to the EU 2020 biodiversity strategy, the European Commission extracted relevant information from the EU Member States’ 5^th national reports to the CBD. Of the 5 countries which had not finalized their national reports at the time of the synthesis (26^th of August 2015), Greece, Malta, Portugal and Lithuania provided information to be included in the synthesis.

The 5^th national reports were examined, and relevant information on selected actions under Targets 1-6 of the EU biodiversity strategy was directly copied. Thus, the information presented here is in the original language and wording of the 5^th national reports.

The focus was on information that is particular to the respective Member State rather than referencing EU wide information. In addition, only information that is not directly reported to the European Commission by Member States was retrieved from the reports. Each Member State had the opportunity to review the synthesis of its report and to provide additional input. For more information, please view here. The 5^th national report for Ireland can be downloaded here.

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