Killarney National Park is facing significant challenges from invasive species, with experts and officials disagreeing over the effectiveness of current control measures despite quadrupled spending on management efforts.
Key developments:
- NPWS spent over €4.3m on invasive species management nationwide (2020-2024)
- Rhododendron control spending in Killarney increased from €254k to €1.08m since 2017
- 286 deer culled in the park last year
- Nearly 2,300 acres cleared of rhododendron
Environmental expert Eoghan Daltun warns that the park’s ecosystem “is dying” due to three main threats:
- Rhododendron invasion
- Sika deer overgrazing
- Feral goat populations
The NPWS reports significant progress:
- 461 sika deer and 501 native red deer culled (2020-2024)
- Two contractor teams working on 1,100 acres of priority habitat
- Additional 265 acres under active management
- Plans to intensify culling activities
However, Daltun argues these efforts are insufficient, stating: “If we can’t even get it right in a national park, forget about it anywhere else.” The NPWS counters that there is “significant misinformation” about the rhododendron situation and maintains they’ve made “huge progress” in tackling invasive species.
According to The Journal, the NPWS plans to expand its control efforts to all large Natura 2000 sites nationwide in coming years, building on the €2.7m already spent on rhododendron control across eight western sites through the LIFE Wild Atlantic Nature Project.