Valuing Our Environment

The Economic Impact of the Environment in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland's environment is one of its greatest assets, with its stunning landscapes, an outstanding coastline, a complex variety of wildlife and a rich built and cultural heritage.

These environmental riches include 9 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), 251 Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSIs), 1,500 scheduled monuments, 8,500 listed buildings and 15,000 archaeological sites. This environment is not only valuable and essential in its own right, but also has huge significance for our economy.

In 2006, a partnership of nine leading environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), together with NIEA commissioned a study into the economic significance of Northern Ireland's environment, called its 'Environmental Economy'. The report was completed by GHK Consulting and the Countryside Consultancy.

The research revealed that:

• Economic activities relating to the environment of Northern Ireland contribute £573 million to the regional economy
• These environment-related economic activities support the equivalent to 32,570 full-time jobs.

The Environmental Economy of Northern Ireland(.PDF 937Kb) is available for download, as is the summary report Valuing Our Environment(.PDF 1.36Mb).

The NGOs involved in the study include :

• Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland
• Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland
• The National Trust
• Nothern Ireland Environment Link
• Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
• Ulster Wildlife Trust
• Woodland Trust
• Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
• World Wildlife Fund.

BBC NI has produced a website called Landscapes Unlocked. This two-tier interactive resource uses footage from the popular BBC NI Sky High series, and features aerial photography and supplementary material to help users explore important landscape features in Northern Ireland.