Over half of national forest estate in private ownership, mainly farmers

The total forest area has increased from 697,842 hectares in 2006 to 808,848 hectares in 2022.

Leitrim is the county with the highest percentage of forest cover (20.1%), while Cork has the largest forest area (92,471 hectares).

For the first time, private forest owners, mainly farmers, now own approximately 50.9% of the national forest estate with the remainder in public ownership, mainly Coillte, Department of Agriculture figures published on Monday show. 

The share of private forests in the national forest estate has increased by over 7.9% since 2006, with 411,484 hectares now in private ownership, compared to 397,364 hectares in public ownership.