Monday, June 11, 2007
SOME things most definitely never change — the compelling beauty of Killarney, hordes of American tourists alighting from buses, boats on the lakes and the age-old Gap of Dunloe.
Neither do problems go away — pollution in Lough Lein, the threat to other plants and trees from rhododendron and the growth of the deer population.
It’s always fascinating to look back in time and, last Wednesday night, RTÉ rebroadcast a television programme made almost 30 years ago in Killarney National Park.
The Breathing Space series featured six half-hour documentaries filmed at locations which, at that time, were remote and where there was time and space to take it all in and draw your breath.
Kerry cows and the regular picture postcard landmarks all flashed on the screen and, outwardly, the landscape still looks the same. The repeat showing was also timely in that the rhododendron is now in full bloom in all its red, or purple, splendour on the hillsides.
The imported rhodo has been thriving in Killarney to the exclusion of many plants and seriously threatens the area’s famous oak and yew woods.
In the 1970’s, an in-depth study of the problem concluded that a critical stage had been reached. Though a huge amount of work has since been done, the problem remains.
Also in the 1970’s, work got underway in clearing the rhodo which covers the woodland floor, blocks out natural light and prevents all other plants from growing beneath it. Chainsaws could be heard on the programme and they are still operating in the park today.
Experts reckon that about 40% of Killarney’s infested woodland has been cleared of the rhodo. However, work must also continue to ensure cleared areas are keep free of the scourge which can and does creep back again.
Dr Alan Craig, then scientific director with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), was guardedly optimistic when interviewed, but stressed that if any progress was to be made in getting rid of the ‘red peril’ it would be in the long-term. Time has certainly proven him right.
As for the condition of Lough Lein, one of the ugliest pieces of footage on the programme was the sight of thick green algae in the water near Ross Castle — a telltale sign that all was not well.
Unfortunately, pollution problems still persist in Lough Lein and Kerry County Council has not yet adopted a management plan for the lake, drawn up some years ago by a task force at a cost of €1 million. Will this problem ever be solved?
Another source of concern is the growth in both the Red and Sika deer populations. Deer damage young trees thus preventing the regrowth of woodlands, but special deer fencing has recently been erected.
Deer trespassing onto privately-owned lands outside the park and deer wandering onto public roads are other areas of concern. There were fears of cross-breeding between the native Red deer and the Sika, but that has not happened.
A memorable feature of the programme, presented by Fergus O’Gorman, was an interview with Danny Cronin, of Muckross, perhaps the oldest living authority on the social and folk history of Killarney.
Now aged over 90 and still to the good, Danny spent his life working in the Muckross area of the National Park.
’The whole scene (in Killarney) has changed completely. There are no boatmakers in Killarney, at present, and only a couple of blacksmiths. I remember when there were five or six blacksmiths, mainly in two families, the O’Shea’s and O’Sullivan Darcy’s,’ he recalled in 1979.
A number of times in the programme, Dr Craig emphasised the importance of conserving the ‘naturalness’ of Killarney — something that calls for eternal vigilance.
Local campaigns have since succeeded in preventing a golf course from going ahead in the park.
But there is an increasing amount of noise in the park, showing a lack of regard for wildlife, since the programme was made. Waterbuses, for example, were controversially introduced to Lough Lein in 1980’s and more helicopters are now flying over the park.
And the question has to be asked: is it appropriate to allow car rallies on roads that run through a national park?
The opening up of new trails and paths giving people more access to the park is to be welcomed. At the same time, however, there are concerns about overcrowding in sensitive areas of the park where signs of erosion caused by people and bikes are evident.
This summer, meanwhile, Groundwork volunteers from many parts of the world will again be taking part in work camps in the park. Since 1981, they have put in countless thousands of hours of honest toil in tackling what Groundwork founder Bill Quirke describes as the major conservation challenge in the park — the protection of the native woodlands from the rhododendron.
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