People mocked the Healy Rae’s a few years ago when they wanted the army to be deployed to help with a mass extermination of the rhododendron in Killarney National Park, but they were dead right
I’ve noticed it’s all over West Clare now too, never saw it there before and a lot of it appears to be in private gardens. They need a full-time dedicated team to get rid of it in Killarney and it should be prohibited to sell and grow on private land.
There seems to be two very different stories here. One side saying the battle is being won, the other saying it’s becoming a lost cause
Does anyone know what controls it in it’s natural habitat?
Like in Portugal or wherever
It seems to be spreading all over Achill island as well.
This might have already been mentioned and/or in the article but Rhododendron is veryyyyyyy poisonous to most animals… especially horses that try to munch on anything while out for a hack in the woods.
As is mentioned in this article, NPWS have had a significant part in making this problem worse. A volunteer organisation, Grounwork, were controlling and reducing the invasive in parts of the park; and in the mid to late 00’s NPWS stopped their work. Since then, the spread of Rhododendron has not been mitigated
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People mocked the Healy Rae’s a few years ago when they wanted the army to be deployed to help with a mass extermination of the rhododendron in Killarney National Park, but they were dead right
I’ve noticed it’s all over West Clare now too, never saw it there before and a lot of it appears to be in private gardens. They need a full-time dedicated team to get rid of it in Killarney and it should be prohibited to sell and grow on private land.
There seems to be two very different stories here. One side saying the battle is being won, the other saying it’s becoming a lost cause
Does anyone know what controls it in it’s natural habitat?
Like in Portugal or wherever
It seems to be spreading all over Achill island as well.
This might have already been mentioned and/or in the article but Rhododendron is veryyyyyyy poisonous to most animals… especially horses that try to munch on anything while out for a hack in the woods.
As is mentioned in this article, NPWS have had a significant part in making this problem worse. A volunteer organisation, Grounwork, were controlling and reducing the invasive in parts of the park; and in the mid to late 00’s NPWS stopped their work. Since then, the spread of Rhododendron has not been mitigated
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/rhododendron-an-ecological-disaster-in-killarney-national-park-1.3894358
Ordinary local volunteers solved this problem 15 years ago. Then the state and OPW and consultants took over and now its a major problem again.
It is something that can only be solved by man power. No easy way. Just send teams of people in to destroy the plants.
You will never get the alll bit pushing them back is better than being smothered