Coillte’s top 50 forests attracted over 2.2 million visitors between March and December last year, a rise of almost 40% on the previous year.

Visitor numbers at its most popular forests have doubled, or even tripled, as people took to the woods in large numbers during the lockdown.

There are approximately 6,000 Coillte forest properties nationwide, all of which are open to the public. Some 260 are Coillte-managed recreational forests.

The Dublin mountains facility, mostly comprised of Ticknock Forest, continued to be the country’s most popular forest last year. It more than doubled its visitor numbers from around 30,000 in February to almost 61,000 in December.

It was closely followed by Rossmore forest park in county Monaghan and Donadea forest park in County Kildare.

But the increased traffic has also brought new problems and issues for the forests, including increased littering.

Fórsa Coillte branch chair Pat Neville welcomed the fact that so many people have used and continue to use the forests during these difficult times. He urged visitors to abide by the “leave no trace” principles of outdoor use and recreation.

“We also ask people to keep their dogs on leads or under effective control, especially at this time of year which is a very important time for ground-nesting birds and livestock who are having young,” he said.

The State forestry body as also issued a reminder that visitors should respect the 2-metre social distancing requirement and the Level Five five-kilometre-from-home travel limit.

Visitors are also being asked to return at a quieter time if local car parks are full or very busy.

Almost 80% of Coillte’s forests are working forests. They produce the most commonly-used wood in modern Irish homes. Commercial forestry also supports around 12,000 jobs in mostly rural areas around the country.

In addition, they provide homes for a myriad of natural wildlife including deer, red squirrels, badgers, owls and insects to name but a few.