To many the Burren region of Co Clare is a wild rock garden resplendent with rare and striking flowers commonly associated with the Arctic, Alpine and Mediterranean regions cohabiting side by side on the limestone landscape.
In full bloom at the moment, flowers such as the Mountain Aven, the Spring Gentian and various types of orchids are rightly regarded as the jewels of the Burren.
However, their place in that unique ecology is now under threat from tourists uprooting and cutting the rare flowers on a grand scale, according to film-maker Eamon de Buitlear.
While on a recent visit to the Burren, Mr de Buitlear says, he witnessed a number of Belgian tourists, some equipped with knives, digging up the rare flowers. "On a particular day, while filming in the Burren, I witnessed French, Belgian and English tourists uprooting the flowers. It must be a widespread practice in the Burren because I was there for only a short time.
"It is a terrible, terrible pity that it is going on. It's totally unacceptable and will have a negative long-term effect on the Burren if it is allowed to continue."
Ms Mary Angela Keane, who has written extensively on the region, echoes Mr de Buitlear's views. "The Burren is a very fragile ecosystem and, unless tourists respect it, the precious flowers will become endangered."
Ms Keane has also witnessed flowers being removed: "There is much talk about various millennium projects; we should be striving to preserve what we have."
The deputy regional manager of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Mr Enda Mooney, says those seeking to address the problem were hampered by a lack of legal protection for the flowers. "Only one or possibly two plants in the Burren are legally protected. Also, we have only one ranger to police the entire area which is next to impossible to do when trying to deter people picking the flowers," he said.
Mr Mooney adds that much responsibility rests with the tour operators, who can advise tourists.
Signs dotted throughout the Burren advising tourists not to remove flowers might detract from the beauty of the area: but signs situated on the periphery of the area could, he feels, be considered.
Deploring the practice of uprooting and cutting the rare flowers, a spokeswoman for Shannon Development, which promotes tourism in the region, said tour operators are advised by the company of the importance and value of the flowers to the Burren.
In the region's current visitor guide, she said, tourists are asked to "take nothing but photographs and leave nothing but footprints".
But as Mr de Buitlear laments: "Unfortunately, it's like our litter laws which are constantly flouted. People just don't listen."
