Management plan for 25,000 acre Killarney National Park launched

The Killarney National Park is the first draft management plan to be launched.

The Killarney National Park is the first draft management plan to be launched.

It follows a pilot project on consultation set up for the Wicklow National Park.

The 25,000 acre Killarney National Park is the fourth-largest in the State and is, since 1981, also a designated UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, part of a world network of natural areas which promotes conservation, research, education and training.

The liaison committee working on the plan was made up of 25 local bodies and there have been over three years of meetings between manager Mr Paddy O'Sullivan and the committee.

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As well as the lakes of Killarney, it includes mountains, bog and woodland, the country's only indigenous red deer, along with rare Sika or Japanese deer, pedigree Kerry cattle, wintering migratory birds, several rare Mediterranean plant species, along with significant rock formations.

It was recently discovered to have the earliest Bronze Age copper mines in north-western Europe.