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Thursday, May 27, 2010
Vandals ruining Kerry’s beauty
BY DONAL HICKEY
THE glorious spell of summer weather has prompted many Kerry people to take to the great outdoors and experience at first hand the splendid, natural beauty of the county.
Last Saturday was International Biodiversity Day when life in all its forms on the planet was celebrated. But how have we in Kerry been doing in relation to protecting nature and our environment?
People might assume that a county which depends largely on tourism for survival would be extremely protective of its beautiful environment.
After all, the theory goes that you do not kill that from which you draw your power to survive.
That is not the case in Kerry, however.
If anything, it could be said that this year has been particularly bad.
In addition to the gross over-development of some of the most beautiful areas of the county during the economic boom, we’ve seen wholesale destruction of mountainscapes, through illegal gorse-burning, and the continued poisoning of eagles.
Though it is illegal to burn gorse between March 1 and August 31, there was at least one fire on the Kerry last weekend and several have been witnessed during May.
Thousands of acres have been destroyed since the spring and some people saw the flames come perilously close to their houses, especially in the Glenflesk and Mangerton areas.
Over the years, I’ve rarely, if ever, seen anyone convicted of illegal gorse-burning, under the Wildlife Act. Is it too much to hope that things are going to change?
What’s happening shows total disregard for people and property, not to mention nature, wildlife and the environment.
The killing of the eagles is another disgrace. Seven have been poisoned and nobody has yet been brought to account, though Garda Inspector Barry O’Rourke, Killarney, says progress is being made with the investigation.
Hopefully, the project to reintroduce eagles is not being deliberately undermined, but ignorance and selfishness are certainly at work here.
If the poisoning continues this worthy reintroduction project will inevitably fail.
County Manager Tom Curran frequently stresses the importance of the environment to Kerry, but some people don’t listen, or care.
As well as gorse-burning and eagle poisoning, there’s something else very obvious – the littering problem, which seems to have got worse.
Only for communities throughout Kerry coming together to pick up rubbish off the roadsides, the county would be in a much worse state facing into the summer.
Taking part in a community clean-up is an education in itself. Your learn from bottles and cans being picked up what brands of vodka and lager are in vogue and you’ll come across any amount of plastic containers and packaging from takeaway food outlets.
It’s impossible to understand why people can’t take their rubbish home with them rather than throwing it out through a car window.
Is it any wonder that Dublin media figures find it so easy to portray Kerry as the home of some kind of tribe of Neanderthals?
Columnist Kevin Myers had a right go, of late, prompted by a county council report that six times more land than is needed for housing had been zoned residential in Kerry. He went on to castigate some of our politicians and give a very negative picture of the county and its people.
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