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Management of Rhododendron ponticum in Killarney National Park cost over €1 million last year alone. Alamy Stock Photo

Invasive species are ‘destroying ecosystems’ in Killarney National Park

But the NPWS, who manages the park, says there has been ‘huge progress’ in their control and eradication.

THE ECOSYSTEM IN Killarney National Park “is dying” due to the presence of invasive species.

That is according to Eoghan Daltun, a farmer, rewilder and an author of two books on Irish rainforests.

Rhododendron, sika deer and feral goats – three of Ireland’s invasive species – are destroying ecosystems in the park, he told The Journal Investigates.

In Killarney National Park, which is “by far the most important of Ireland’s remaining native forest habitats, and [a] rainforest as well,” sika deer and feral goats are “primarily responsible for the fact that the trees can’t regenerate,” Daltun said.

In 2022, The Journal Investigates highlighted the damage caused by overgrazing for habitats and species in many upland areas as well as national parks in Ireland.

Every seedling gets eaten, and all of the really rich ground flora that should be there is just stripped out by these two alien invasive species.

Daltun said that “this paves the way for rhododendron to take over, because it has no competition, and overgrazing creates the perfect conditions for Rhododendron ponticum seeds to germinate prolifically”. 

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) manages Killarney National Park. A spokesperson for the NPWS at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage told The Journal Investigates that invasive alien species “threaten our biodiversity” and native habitats.

“NPWS carries out extensive targeted works each year in its National Parks and Nature Reserves to control, manage and eradicate invasive species such as Rhododendron and Japanese knotweed and to manage the deer population.”

E Daltun Eoghan Daltun says that native woodland in Killarney is unable to regenerate due to invasive species. Eoghan Daltun / Bluesky Eoghan Daltun / Bluesky / Bluesky

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Targeted culling of deer ‘to intensify’ 

NPWS is responsible for the management of deer within Killarney National Park, and 286 deer were culled in the park last year, the spokesperson told us.

“A further cull is planned into the new year and until the end of the shooting season at least.

“This culling programme is augmented by ongoing fencing projects within Killarney National Park and ongoing planting and woodland regeneration projects.”

The culling programme for sika deer is “having a significant effect” on its population, according to the NPWS spokesperson. “Feral goats are also part of the culling programme.”

Between 2020 and 2024, 461 sika deer and 501 native red deer in Killarney National Park were culled by NPWS staff. These figures were released by Minister of State for Nature, Malcolm Noonan, during a government debate in April 2024.

During the same debate, the Minister also said that “targeted culling activities in Killarney National Park are expected to intensify over the coming years”.

young-sika-stags-lying-on-grassy-hillside-in-the-wicklow-mountains-national-park-in-ireland-on-a-drizzling-autumn-day Sika deer are our most common non-native deer species. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

These efforts are insufficient, said Daltun, adding that the park is teeming with sika deer and feral goats, especially visible at dawn and dusk.

“The fact that we’re not sorting it out in one of [the] tiny, little remnants of semi-natural habitat that we have left – and we’ve got very, very little left in Ireland – shows how mismanaged this whole problem is.

“If we can’t even get it right in a national park, forget about it anywhere else,” he told The Journal Investigates.

When this was put to them, a spokesperson said that “NPWS has made huge progress in tackling [invasive alien species] within Killarney National Park”.

They also said that “there is significant misinformation about the rhododendron situation” at the park.

Spend on rhododendron quadrupled

There may be disagreement on the management of invasive species, but it is clear that the cost of this crucial task is significant. 

On Wednesday, we revealed that despite councils spending millions, invasive plants are still spreading in many parts of Ireland.

Now, as part of our Soil Invaders investigation, we can also show that the NPWS spent over €4.3m on managing invasive species across Ireland from July 2020 to August 2024, of which at least €1.6m was spent on managing rhododendron.

But this figure, obtained through an Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) request, is likely to be an underestimate.

As part of the LIFE Wild Atlantic Nature Project, more than €2.7m was spent on rhododendron control over the past three years across eight sites in “three western counties” in an effort to restore peatlands, the NPWS spokesperson told us.

The NPWS hope to expand this effort to cover “all large Natura 2000 sites nationwide in the coming years”, they said.

In a recent public talk, NPWS regional manager Danny O’Keefe also revealed that spend on rhododendron management in Killarney National Park alone has quadrupled since 2017, increasing from €254k in 2017 to €1.08 million in 2024.

Current methods include using herbicides to kill the plants and cutting and removing roots and seedlings, with volunteers playing a crucial role, said O’Keefe.

Rhododendron eradication “has been undertaken in the highest priority habitats” in Killarney, the NPWS spokesperson told us.

This includes old oak woodlands as well as upland heath and bog. Almost 2,300 acres has been cleared, according to the NPWS, across a number of locations.

“Currently Killarney National Park has two contractor teams engaged in the eradication at a further 1,100 acres of priority habitat,” the spokesperson said, adding that work is underway in a separate location that covers another 265 acres.

The Journal Investigates

Reporter: Anthea Lacchia • Editor: Maria Delaney • Social Media: Sadbh Cox

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