There have been calls to introduce pay-and-display parking at Ireland's highest mountain, Carrauntoohil in Co Kerry.
So many people are now tackling the 1,039-metre peak in the MacGillycuddy Reeks, the pathways are seriously eroded and hazardous, and farmers are finding it difficult to herd sheep, a council meeting has been told.
The body set up to manage the mountain, the MacGillycuddy Reeks Access Forum has also issued a call for help in the form of a direct appeal to climbers, businesses and guides, saying "the Reeks need your help".
The money collected from the hundreds of cars and buses parking at the council managed car parks high in the foothills of Carrauntoohil would go directly into the mountain, to pay for the much-needed pathway repair, a council meeting has been told.
Up to 1,300 people a week now climb Carrauntoohil, according to figures from a people counter set into the mountain's main routes.
Most take the Devil's Ladder or Caher routes up the mountain, but huge rifts have been created and the erosion is spreading as people stray off the paths.
As well as individual and guided groups, charity events are increasing and these can draw hundreds at any one time, according to Patricia Deane of the MacGillycuddy Reeks Access Forum, which has been set up to manage the mountain.
The reeks are privately owned mountains and the forum is made up of landowners, the local development partnership, walkers and guides, and Kerry County Council, which has responsibility for the main car parks.
Farmers are now finding it difficult to herd their sheep in the summer because of the numbers on the mountain, Ms Deane, who is rural and recreation officer with the South Kerry Development Partnership, said.
The forum supports the request to the county council for pay-and-display car parks, to finance the works needed to keep the mountain open and safe, she confirmed.
"Erosion in the Reeks is worsening and this erosion is impacting on protected habitats and species, water quality, agriculture as well as diminishing the walking experience in this wonderful landscape. This can't continue. The Reeks must be protected," Ms Deane said.
The Friends of the Reeks initiative is seeking individual as well as group subscriptions and is being sent out internationally as well as nationally, she said.
Subscribers will receive car stickers as well as the use of the mountain logo for their businesses.
Independent councillor Michael Cahill told a meeting of the South and West Kerry Council that "an honesty box" at the Reeks car parks of Lisleibane and Breanlea which is the method favoured by the council will simply not garner the necessary funds.
"There needs to be a properly organised system of collecting money in the car parks. Most walkers would be favourably disposed to paying a nominal two-euro a day pay-and-display system to park their cars, knowing the money is going back into the mountain they enjoy so much."
His motion was seconded by Fianna Fáil Cllr John Francis Flynn and received unanimous support.
Four years ago a report commissioned by Mountaineering Ireland found the paths seriously eroded and that no maintenance plan was in place.
Other popular mountains such as Brandon and Mangerton needed to be managed, and roadways and pathways properly maintained - again because of the pressure of car traffic and walkers, council management has been told.
The council executive said traffic management problems would be a concern on the mountains, fearing that motorists would park along the narrow mountain roads rather than the paid car parks, but it is looking into the matter.
For the moment honesty boxes are being installed.
