Stark beauty of the Burren threatened by tourism

One of Ireland's most striking - and irreplaceable - natural landscapes is at risk from some of the tens of thousands of visitors who travel to see it each year, environmentalists say.

The Burren, in the west coast county of Clare, attracts visitors from all over the world to view its stark limestone expanses, which hold many natural and man-made curiosities.

While the virtually treeless landscape, almost lunar in places, can seem barren and lifeless, its rocky clefts provide niches which support a surprising diversity of wildlife, much of it rare.

One of Cromwell's generals recounted its apparent emptiness: "Of the barony of Burren it is said that it is a country where there is not water enough to drown a man, wood enough to hang one, nor earth enough to bury him."

But it has been designated as one of the Republic's six national parks and is valued as a national treasure. In recent times there has been much local debate on how to ensure that tourism and farming can be carried on without harming the unique environment. A meeting has been called to discuss tourist-related issues tonight.

Carol Gleeson, of the Environmental Protection of the Burren through Visitor Management organisation, said: "Tourism makes a valuable contribution to the local economy but inappropriate tourist activity can also pose a serious threat to the fragile nature of the landscape."

Ms Gleeson said that 99 per cent of visitors treated the landscape with respect, but some scattered litter without regard, damaged walls and lifted flowers and rocks. "You might look at the area and say that there are flowers everywhere, but if people take them we might have a problem," she added.

Many visitors also take in the nearby Cliffs of Moher and Galway city, a trio of attractions which ensures a constant flow of tourists.

The Burren was not always valued, one visitor in the past noting sourly: "The more elevated parts are destitute of herbage, and present to the eye an arid, cold, and joyless waste, unchanged by either summer's sun or winter's cold."

Today the public is much more appreciative, while the area's apparent aridity is now known to support a complex ecosystem. Botanically it is regarded as a wonder, since it features, side by side, plants normally found in sub-Arctic areas together with those usually associated with the Mediterranean. It is particularly noted for its many species of orchids. Its wildlife includes hares, foxes, stoats, bats and pine martens, together with a herd of feral goats.

There are traces of human habitation going back more than 5,000 years, with scores of tombs and earthen ring forts. There is also a ruined abbey dating back almost 1,000 years.