How Stately Homes are Building a Green Future
With World Environment Day hitting the calendar earlier this week, we wanted to look at how heritage sites are doing their bit to help restore biodiversity and create a cleaner, greener future for their local communities.
Mapperton House - Dorset
The Mapperton Estate in Dorset is home to the Montagu family, who have been hard at work rewilding 500 acres of their 2,000 acre estate. Having been inspired by the Knepp Estate in Sussex, the Montagu’s have introduced a range of mega fauna including Park cattle and Exmoor ponies onto the wildlands to help increase natural disturbance and boost biodiversity. Visitors to the estate can now enjoy tours of the wildlands and even stay in boutique glamping tents, to truly experience their rewilding project.
Holkham Hall - Norfolk
Holkham Hall has launched a far reaching environmental project called ‘WONDER’ to fully reimagine the way the estate is run. Using a variety of methods the aim of the project is for the estate to be carbon negative by 2040. By introducing sustainable energy sources, reducing waste by 10% annually, boosting biodiversity and focusing on soil health & regenerative farming, Holkham’s custodians, the Earl & Countess of Leicester are on their way to reach their environmental goals.
Somerleyton Hall - Suffolk
The Somerleyton Estate has been at the forefront of introducing environmentally friendly farming & conservation methods to their 2,000 acre Suffolk estate. Lord Somerleyton the estates owner, is a founder member of the ‘Wild East’ initiative which aims to rewild no less than 250,000 of East Anglia. On his own estate Somerleyton has introduced mega fauna to boost biodiversity across a 1,000 acre area. The estate also manages 60,000 metres of crucial hedgerow which are avenues of burgeoning biodiversity.