Concerns have been raised about the overuse of weed killer at some of West Cork’s popular green spaces.

The Southern Star has received complaints from nature lovers about the damaging effects of herbicides like Glyphosate on wildlife and biodiversity in different parts of the region.

One area affected is Skibbereen’s Famine Graveyard where a drum of what was labelled as weed killer was recently spotted by the entrance gate.

Abbeystrowry Cemetery is maintained by Cork County Council.

In 2022, Cork County Council said it would ‘significantly reduce’ the use of weed killer, especially Glyphosate, and ‘potentially eliminate it totally in coming years’.

A spokesperson for the council said: ‘This cemetery is maintained by workers engaged by and managed under the Tús Scheme. The workers cut the grass in the cemetery a number of times per year.

‘On occasions it has been noticed that private individuals who own plots within cemeteries have used chemical herbicides to control vegetation around their plots.’

One community group leading the way in using alternatives to herbicides is Skibbereen Tidy Towns, which has mainly been using salt and sometimes vinegar to keep weeds down.

Jerome Dwyer, chairman of Skibbereen Tidy Towns, said: ‘We gave up using weed killer a number of years ago. All of the footpaths out to the new bridge before the graveyard and all footpaths and parks around town are maintained by us.’

Weed killer also appears to be in use at the garden at Bennett’s Mill Fields in Clonakilty, a popular walking spot near Western Road dedicated to biodiversity. The garden is maintained and looked after by Clonakilty Tidy Towns which took on a 50-year lease of the land the garden was created on.

The Tidy Towns group said the weed killer was used as a ‘one-off’ while laying the groundworks for a new footpath, donated to the community by local firm All Black Tarmacadam Ltd.

Diarmuid Cregan, co-chairman of Clonakilty Tidy Towns, said: ‘We don’t use weed killer and if it is used, it’s used very sparingly. But we had to use it recently so the new tarmac footpath can be built, which is wider than the current footpath. We are very grateful for the donation.’

Diarmuid stressed that the garden was still a haven for local wildlife and that Tidy Towns was committed to biodiversity and sustainability.

The recycled tarmac to be used for the footpath at the biodiversity garden was originally used for the car park at Dunnes Stores, Clonakilty.

A spokesperson for the National Biodiversity Data Centre said: ‘Pesticides are potent chemical cocktails that can kill, harm and disorientate pollinators. The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan encourages everyone to eliminate pesticides for the benefit of pollinators and biodiversity more widely.’