Brook Hall's story
Brook Hall Estate & Gardens lies on the banks of the River Foyle, on the edge of Derry-Londonderry. This 18th century piece of land attached to a manor is home to one of Northern Ireland's top arboretums, specialising in a collection of conifers, rhododendrons, magnolias, and camellias.
Over the past 30 years, Brook Hall has led the way in researching and promoting energy, environmental, and landscape management strategies to succeed in true sustainability and inspire behavioural change – becoming the first farm in Northern Ireland to be measurably carbon positive.
In the 1990s Brook Hall became Ireland's first short rotation coppice willow commercial farm, producing sustainable biomass fuel for heating local consumers. The estate's research and development continues in carbon reduction and soil health improvement, as a showcase of what can be achieved.
Useful learnings from Brook Hall
"The best advice that I could give is not to look for a silver bullet when looking at reaching net-zero. We need to look at a variety of different things, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Look at what your assets are, and how you can optimise those."
David Gilliland, Managing Partner
Brook Hall's metrics
Carbon reduction and storage
Soil health
