The first ever "management plan process" for the State's national parks has been announced by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, as part of a new strategy.
The six national parks - Glenveagh, Co Donegal, Wicklow Mountains, Killarney, Balcroy, Co Mayo, Connemara and The Burren in Co Clare - were not just historical and natural repositories, the Minister said, they were also crucial to their local economies, and conservation and economic development could go hand in hand.
Under the new strategy five-year plans for each of the six parks are to be drawn up and put on public display. There is to be annual "formal" consultation between park managers and local and broadly based park liaison committees, and continuous review and assessment, Mr Cullen said.
The strategy was designed to achieve "an inclusive and consultative-based approach" to protecting the parks.
"Natural heritage can only be secured for future generations if it is conserved, protected and managed by this generation. An inclusive management plan that incorporates all stakeholders ensures we can meet this objective," Mr Cullen said.
The Minister was speaking at the announcement of the draft management plan for the 10,289-hectare Killarney National Park. The first to be launched, the Killarney plan has been drawn up with consultation between the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and a 25-member local liaison committee of angling, business, environmental and recreational bodies. It is now going on public display for comment.
All six State-owned national parks are managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service attached to the Department of the Environment.
Along with those nature reserves which are State-owned, the six parks comprise 1.5 per cent of the total landmass of the State. In addition, national parks are governed by international standards laid down by the world conservation union, the International Union of Nature Conservation, to protect extensive natural plant and animal communities and scenic areas.
Containing rare plant, animal and marine species, they are protected also under an EU habitats directive, adopted in 1997.
"National parks provide strong links to our history. They provide children and families with strong and lasting connections to our national heritage," the Minister said.
However, they were not just social or historical repositories, and they were more than the sum of their scenery. Important tourist attractions, they were also crucial to the local economies in which they were situated.
Although they are financially ring-fenced for conservation, a number of pressing issues are facing the parks, according to official reports. Overgrazing and overuse by visitors are posing a threat in some. The Glendalough oak woods in Wicklow and those in Killarney are threatened by deer grazing. Erosion by walkers is a problem in popular areas in most of the parks.
Rhododendron infestation is a huge threat to the native woodlands in Killarney, and visitor usage is also an issue in some areas.