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Post by whisker on Sept 11, 2011 22:25:55 GMT
rhododendron
I saw this on telly - how it costs millions of euro a year to keep that beautiful shrub, rhododendron, from invading Ireland's most famous beauty spot, Killarney.
They have to put in massive work and man-hours in order to stop its' spread from destroying natural afforestation in the area. Nothing can grow underneath the rhododendron.
There is so much work needed on this project, that they have voluntary teams from countries all over the world to help. These would be from all walks of life - but mostly students, especially forestry students.
At the bottom of the link it shows some of the methods they have to resort to in order to get rid of the beautiful rhodo.
www.killarneynationalpark.ie/Rhododendron.htm
Have you, or do you know of someone else, who has an unusual voluntary work? |
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Post by mikkel on Sept 12, 2011 22:37:09 GMT
While I do Not do anything unusual on a voluntary basis as such, I can't see Why there is a need to rid any area of such a Beautiful plant.
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Post by whisker on Sept 12, 2011 23:15:22 GMT
From what I know of you, mikkel, you do a lot of very unique voluntary work conserving the Brambley Railway Line!
The sad thing about these beautiful rhodo bushes, is that they spread so fast destroying everything in their path.
No tree seedlings can grow underneath them, so the natural forests in the area are not getting a chance to regenerate themselves. Were the rhododendron to keep spreading without being checked, the forests would be totally wiped out in a short time. They started to be alarmed about this back in the seventies - and have tried several methods of controlling the rhododendron - without having achieved a huge amount of success in 40 years.
So it's an ongoing work in progress. It's so demanding of man-hours and energy, that they have to depend on volunteers from many counties to help them out.
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Post by whisker on Sept 14, 2011 8:29:51 GMT
I was Googling voluntary adventures round the world, when it popped into my mind that Jimi at Huntigbrook Gardens - a half an hour's drive from where I live has voluntary work available. He's very laid back and the setting, where the gardens are, is idyllic. Have visited there a few times on open days. He is a plant collector and visits places all around the world to find interesting plants. He runs the gardens as a educational centre.
The picture of the rhodo used above was taken while on a day -trip with Jimi to Dargle Cottage - and that's where I saw lots of different rhody varieties. Small world!
Enjoy!
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