Bord na Móna UK’s parent company has opened a new €1.5 million visitor facility in the 3000 hectare Lough Boora Parklands, a cutaway peat bog, which the company restored into a network of off-road walking and cycle routes within a biodiverse habitat which includes the last remaining population of grey partridge in Ireland. 

Opened last week by Ireland’s Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Alex White T.D, the investment  provides sustainable development , including the use of environmentally friendly materials in construction - a green roof, solar energy, and an ecological waste water treatment system.  The new facility is designed to improve the visitor experience to the former peat extraction area, which BNM created ten years ago as a tangible statement of its commitment never to open another peat bog.

Head of Consumer for BNM in the UK, Steve Harper explained, “This latest investment is part of Bord na Móna’s ‘Contract with Nature’ - a blueprint for minimizing negative impact while delivering a sustainable, low carbon future.  While Bord na Móna’s heritage is in peat production, it now invests in eco–technology with biomass, wind farms and water and waste recycling.  This latest Lough Boora investment not only secures the economic future of the area, it is the perfect backdrop to our continued expansion in the UK.  By blending the remaining peat that Bord na Móna has farmed in the past with the results of our cutting edge green waste composting technology we are utilising resources in the most sustainable way – something that Lough Boora represents beautifully.”