Killarney

<h3>The inaugural Rhododendron&nbsp;Conference on&nbsp;Friday, brought together landowners, farmers, community groups, individuals and environmentalists who have an interest in controlling and eradicating this invasive plant from the landscape.</h3>
Hosted by&nbsp;Kerry Biosphere at&nbsp;the Brehon Hotel, it was a&nbsp;well attended event with many&nbsp;concerned individuals from all parts of the country present.&nbsp;
Rhododendron ponticum is a plant that originated in The Black Sea region of modern day Turkey called Pontus, hence the name ponticum.&nbsp;It was imported into Ireland and planted in Victorian Gardens by landlords of the time, and cherished for its rich showy floral displays of mauve each summer.&nbsp;It was&nbsp;also valued as cover for game which was important on many Victorian Estates as hunting was a popular pastime.&nbsp;This plant escaped these gardens and became established in the wild from around 1894.&nbsp;Since that time it has been encroaching on native flora and fauna and displacing all other plants and animals eventually.
&#8220;I was impressed by the interest and range of speakers at this the first Rhododendron Conference in Ireland and the first one to be hosted by The Kerry Biosphere,&#8221;&nbsp;Diarmaid Griffin, Green Party LEA Representative who attended the conference, said.
&#8220;I have known about this invasive plant for many years but this conference is a milestone in the battle as it brought together all interested parties to share information and find a solution to this widespread problem.&#8221;
MC on the day was Aisling O&#8217;Brien from Radio Kerry who presents Agritime&nbsp;with&nbsp;the station.&nbsp;Malcolm Noonan, Minister of Heritage spoke first and outlined his full commitment to the ongoing eradication programme and pledged funding for this in the NPWS budget.
Kerry Biosphere Officer&nbsp;Eleanor Turner spoke and gave&nbsp;a background to&nbsp;her work on promoting the conservation goals of this UNESCO designated site. Other speakers included Dr&nbsp;Therese Higgins of MTU who gave a comprehensive talk on the problem plant.&nbsp;
Patricia Deane of the Macgillycuddy Reeks European Innovation Partnership Project outlined her work with&nbsp;hill farmers on improving the biodiversity and nature value of&nbsp;upland areas in Kerry.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&#8220;Hill farmers in Kerry are doing great work with Tricia Deane in maintaining the biodiversity of our precious uplands.&nbsp;Not everyone might know how much these people are contributing to our environment and they deserve recognition and support. I hope this project continues long into the future,&#8221; she said.
Flor McCarthy, a local hill farmer, spoke very well on his experience of the EIP Project.&nbsp;Like many hill farmers, he has an infestation&nbsp;of Rhododendron ponticum on his land and is one hundred percent behind its removal as it not only affects nature, but is&nbsp;also toxic to grazing sheep.
Seamie Hassettt spoke in the afternoon on the history of Killarney National Park&#8217;s battle with the alien plant and new plans for the future.&nbsp;His talk was followed by a short film about The Killarney Mountain Meitheal and the great work they have done in removing Rhododendron from Killarney National Park.

Inaugural Rhododendron conference is first in Ireland

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