BrewDog has sold the 10,000 acre woodland estate it purchased in 2020 with the intention to grow its ‘Lost Forest’.
The Kinrara Estate on the east coast of Scotland has been purchased by Oxygen Conservation for an undisclosed sum.
BrewDog said it had elected to hand over the site – which it acquired for £8.8m just five years ago – to Oxygen Conservation to focus on reducing its own direct CO2 emissions under new CEO James Taylor.
A spokeswoman for the brewer said: “The Lost Forest has been an incredible part of our journey, and we’re hugely proud of what has been achieved since we became custodians of Kinrara Estate – including the restoration of 745 hectares of peatland and the planting of over 375 hectares of new woodland.
“As our ESG strategy evolves, we are sharpening our focus on reducing our own direct emissions and making a positive impact in our communities. That’s why we’re delighted to hand the site over to Oxygen Conservation, who are experts in natural capital and large-scale restoration. They are perfectly placed to build on the strong foundations already in place and take the Lost Forest into its next chapter.”
The Lost Forest project was a key part of BrewDog’s now-abandoned strategy to become ‘carbon negative’ under former CEO and founder James Watt.
The brewer pledged to use the woodland estate to plant a forest “capable of sequestering up to 550,000 tonnes of CO2 each year”, stating it would be partly funded by sales of its Lost Lager.
However, the project was heavily subsidised by public money, with BrewDog being awarded £1,229,496 by government agency Scottish Forestry in 2022.
And in April 2024, Watt admitted that over 90,000 of the trees BrewDog had planted had died following “the fifth hottest Scottish summer on record” and a winter of “savage gales and sweeping frosts”.
Oxygen Conservation said it had a “bold plan” for the Kinrara Estate to deliver “landscape-scale restoration that enhances biodiversity and reimagines how people, business, and nature can thrive together”.
The company, which was founded four years ago and describes itself as a “natural capital asset manager”, owns a total of 12 UK estates, including three in Scotland.
“We’re delighted to be taking forward the next chapter of Kinrara Estate, following BrewDog’s work on the Lost Forest – one of Scotland’s most ambitious woodland creation projects,” said Oxygen Conservation CEO Rich Stockdale. “They took on a complex, challenging landscape and delivered it to a high standard, from ground preparation to deer fencing and especially the use of locally sourced seed.
“Kinrara offers both scale and ecological improvement opportunities, and we hope to take it into its next chapter whilst continuing the ambitious woodland creation and peatland restoration projects already planned across this landscape.”
BrewDog announced in July 2024 it would exit the market for carbon credits and let its carbon negative status expire.
Then CEO James Arrow said the high cost of purchasing credits and a desire to focus on reducing its own emissions were behind the move.
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