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Northern Ireland Environmental Statistics Report 2012 published

The latest edition of the Northern Ireland Environmental Statistics Report with over 50 environmental indicators is published today.
~ Thursday, 26 January 2012

The Report focuses on eight key themes from biodiversity to waste management and the indicators show changes in aspects affecting our environment, everything from our changing attitude towards the environment, trends in Strangford Lough seal population, the quality of our drinking and bathing waters through to the number of housing completions and quantity of household waste produced.

Some key points from the report are:

1. Demographics, transport & public opinion

  • In 2010, Northern Ireland’s population was 7% greater than it had been ten years previously. The number of households has increased at an even faster rate, as a result of a declining number of people per household.
  • Airport passenger numbers have increased by 42% in Northern Ireland in the last ten years to 7.1 million in 2010. However a drop in air passenger numbers has been observed since a peak in 2008.
  • Car travel continues to dominate the way we do most of our day-to-day travelling, with 71% of our journeys being made by car.
  • The proportion of people who consider climate change an important environmental problem has increased dramatically since 2003/04 and is now one of the biggest environmental concerns for the Northern Ireland public alongside household waste disposal.

2. Air & Climate

  • In 2010 the levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter in the atmosphere were within national air quality objectives; however levels of ozone in Northern Ireland do not appear to be decreasing and occasional exceedances remain a possibility. They depend substantially on weather conditions and are variable from year to year.
  • In 2009, greenhouse gas emissions were 20% lower than in 1990, when monitoring of such emissions commenced. The Programme for Government has a target of a 25% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, on the 1990 levels.

3. Water

  • River monitoring is carried out routinely against national standards for the Water Framework Directive (WFD). Just over one fifth (22%) of monitored river waterbodies were of at least a ‘good’ standard in 2010.
  • Industrial discharge quality and water utility discharge quality have improved since the beginning of the decade. Compliance for private sewage reached its highest level in 2010 (88%) compared to 82% in 2009.
  • Drinking water quality is also at the highest level of compliance since 2004, at 99.8%.
  • Nineteen percent of all substantiated water pollution incidents in Northern Ireland in 2010 were considered to be of ‘High’ or ‘Medium’ severity in 2010; an increase on the 2009 level of 16%.

4. Marine

  • In 2011, all 24 of the beaches monitored in Northern Ireland met the EC Bathing Water Directive mandatory standards, compared to 22 beaches in 2010.
  • Almost half (48%) of marine water bodies around Northern Ireland’s shores are classified as high or good, with the remaining waterbody areas being classified as moderate.
  • In 2010, all ten designated shellfish waters achieved the mandatory standards and there were no exceedences of the dangerous substances standards in shellfish waters.

5. Land

  • Soil quality in Northern Ireland has improved slightly in recent years. In 2010/11, there were fewer soils that were either under or over-enriched with phosphorus compared to 2005/06.
  • Following the steep decline in housing completions since 2007/08, the number of housing completions in 2009/10 remains low (5,095 completions) despite an increase of 9% percent on the previous year.

6. Biodiversity

  • Just over two-thirds of 960 features assessed within areas of special scientific interest in Northern Ireland are in a favourable condition. No definitive comments about trends in condition can be made at this stage.
  • Between 2000 and 2010, the wild bird population has decreased by 21%. The wetland bird population decreased by 22% between 1999/2000 - 2009/10.
  • Adult common seal populations at Strangford Lough have fluctuated over recent years, but the 2011 adult population of 172 was below the average for the last ten years (201).The highest population at Strangford Lough (288) was recorded in 2003.

7. Built Heritage

  • Since 2003 there has been a modest increase in the number of listed buildings with a total of 8,472 buildings recorded by the NIEA in 2010/11. There were 499 structures on the Built Heritage at Risk Register in Northern Ireland in 2010/11 and in that year fifteen buildings had been removed.

8. Waste

  • There were 984,722 tonnes of municipal waste collected in Northern Ireland in 2010/11, a decrease of almost 2% on the amount collected in 2009/10. Household waste accounted for just over 88% of all municipal waste collected in Northern Ireland in 2010/11.
  • Recycling of waste is becoming much more common in Northern Ireland. In 2010/11, just over 37% of household waste was sent for recycling (including composting), almost double the proportion (19%) recycled in 2004/05.

Notes to editors:

  1. This is the fourth Northern Ireland Environmental Statistics Report, and will be updated annually.
  2. There are eight main topic areas covered in the report, covering 56 individual indicators. These indicators provide the most recently available data, trends over time and, where applicable, performance against quantified targets.
  3. Electronic copies of the ‘Northern Ireland Environmental Statistics Report’ are available at http://www.doeni.gov.uk/statistics Should this format not be suitable for your needs, hard copies are available free of charge from: Analytical Services Branch, Room 4.10, Clarence Court, 10 - 18 Adelaide Street, Belfast BT2 8GB Telephone: (028) 9054 0245 E-mail: asb@doeni.gov.uk
  4. For media enquiries please contact the DOE Press Office 028 9025 6058. Out of office hours, contact the EIS Duty Press Officer on pager 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.