Written answers
Tuesday, 3 October 2023
Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government
National Parks and Wildlife Service
John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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372. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to provide details, including costs, of efforts to reduce and eliminate rhododendron ponticum from the Glen of the Downs Nature Reserve in County Wicklow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42676/23]
Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department prioritises the ongoing management and eradication of invasive species as part of its conservation role, dedicating a significant level of its resources to these management activities each year.
Monitoring of invasive species at Glen of the Downs Nature Reserve in County Wicklow continues throughout the year. There has been no significant outbreak of rhododendron ponticum reported in the nature reserve.
The most recent contract for the control of invasive species in Glen of the Downs was for the control and removal of cherry laurel and clematis, at a cost of approximately €164k.
The species have not been eradicated completely from the site yet, but the project has already significantly transformed the structure of the woodland from a conservation viewpoint. This project is one of the many projects funded through the Conservation Measures Unit of the NPWS aimed at addressing the site specific conservation objectives of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).
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