You can view up-to-date information held on the state of the environment in Wales on StatsWales, the Welsh Assembly Government statistics website.
In the State of Environment Report you can find data on the indicators that monitor progress against the Welsh Assembly Government’s Environment Strategy. The indicators are presented in a series of online reports which are also linked to data tables which you can then manipulate and/or download.
Environment Agency Wales is responsible for a number of the Indicators and we provide regular updates to the Welsh Assembly Government.
Contaminated land
We have brought 1005 hectares of contaminated land back into beneficial use since 2006. The total amount of contaminated land in Wales remains unknown.
Flooding
Around 220,000 properties in Wales are at risk of flooding.
We spend over £20 million a year building and maintaining flood defences.
We are working with individual property owners and local communities to improve their understanding and resilience to flooding. We have visited over 70,000 properties in 160 of the most `at risk' communities in Wales to talk to individuals about their personal risk of flooding and to help them plan the action that they would take if a flood were to occur.
Waste
45.3 per cent of municipal waste was recycled or composted in 2010/11, compared with 8.4 per cent 10 years ago.
Water
A third of Wales’ rivers, lakes, canals and coastal waters have been assessed as good or high ecological status in the Water Framework Directive classification.
87 of the 88 Welsh Bathing Waters sampled in 2011 met the EC bathing waters standard. 78 of them met the stricter guideline standard.
734 gigalitres water was taken from the Welsh environment in 2010. 68 per cent for drinking water and 17 per cent for use by industry.
Air quality
Total emissions to air of Sulphur Dioxide from all sources have decreased by 83 per cent, from 187 kilotonnes in 1990 to 31.5 kilotonnes in 2009.
Total emissions to air of Nitrogen Oxides from all sources have decreased by 51 per cent, from 164 kilotonnes in 1990 to 81 kilotonnes in 2009.
Biodiversity
Otter populations in Wales show a dramatic improvement. Nine out of every ten sites surveyed across Wales are now showing signs of otters, compared to only two out of ten in 1978.
Tell us what you think
To help us improve the way we publish our State of the Environment information, we are interested in hearing how you use this information and how we could improve this section of our website for you.
