Kerry Rhododendron clearance costs surpass €2m

Originally introduced as ornamentation and hunting cover in the 18th century, the rhododendron has waxy toxic leaves inedible to grazing deer and livestock

A few volunteers from the Killarney Mountain Meitheal out on location with their hatchets and spray cans. They featured in the Hatchets & Hope, a short documentary film on the group of volunteers that hike out to protect some of Ireland’s last surviving woodland forests from the alarming spread of Rhododendron ponticum.

Rhododendron clearance is set to cost Killarney's National Park more than €2m by the end of this year, conservation experts told a recent conference.

Experts likened the alarming spread of the vibrant invasive plant to an “invisible pollution”, explaining how it has become a scourge to biodiversity in the southwest.