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 606 hectares of contaminated land back into beneficial use since 2006. The total amount of contaminated land in Wales remains unknown.
Flooding
More than 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. Between July and December 2010 we knocked on 29,000 doors in 53 communities across Wales. Over 21,500 people are now more aware of the risk and what they can do to reduce it.
Waste
40.5% of municipal waste was recycled or composted in 2009/10, compared with 7% 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 2010 classification.
All 80 Welsh Bathing Waters sampled in 2010 met the EC bathing waters standard. 68 of them met the stricter guideline standard.
759 giglitres water was taken from the welsh environment in 2008. 68% for drinking water and 18% for use by industry.
Air quality
Total emissions to air of Sulphur Dioxide from all sources have decreased by 78 per cent, from 189 kilo tonnes in 1990 to 42 kilo tonnes in 2008.
Total emissions to air of Nitrogen Oxides from all sources have decreased by 38 per cent, from 170 kilo tonnes in 1990 to 106 kilo tonnes in 2008.
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.
