Prospect Park Alliance’s Design and Construction team is constantly innovating to sustain, restore and advance Brooklyn’s Backyard: whether making a green park greener, crafting award-winning designs, and most recently, implementing a new method to boost the health of the park’s soil. In Fall of 2024, you may have spotted the Alliance at work on an innovative technique to help the park’s soil thrive around the newly restored path near the Garfield Entrance to Prospect Park. The team added an organic type of charcoal, called “biochar,” to the area to boost the impact of the team’s work to “decompact” soil and help the landscape thrive. Biochar acts as a nutrient-rich soil superfood which allows the soil to become more porous and facilitates the absorption of oxygen and nutrients. In just 9 months since first adding biochar to the area, the site has already seen improvements with stormwater management, soil enhancement and tree health.

Trees near the Garfield entrance before decompaction in Fall 2024, left. The same area with lush grass and leafed-out trees in Summer 2025, right.

As millions of park-goers explore Brooklyn’s backyard each year, soil can become compacted, which can prevent trees from absorbing retaining the water and nutrients that they need. This area had become compacted over time, so upon completing the path restoration, the team set to “decompact” the ground with the special addition of biochar. “Without damaging roots, we use an air-powered tool to create pockets in the root area of the tree. This creates a void that can be filled with compost, or in this case, top soil mixed with biochar,” says Prospect Park Alliance Construction Supervisor, Mathew Hall. “This gives the tree’s roots the chance to grow longer, wider and even laterally.”

“Biochar is a very fine type of charcoal created from heating leaves, branches, and other natural matter at a really high temperature without oxygen,” explained Prospect Park Alliance Landscape Architect, Jillian Pagano. “An example of how this organic charcoal could occur naturally is after a forest fire, where natural debris could smolder on the ground beneath a layer of ash without oxygen. At that high of a temperature, all of the gases and nutrients released become locked into a solid that naturally decomposes into soil and enhances the soil’s ability to retain water.” This makes biochar an excellent addition to newly planted landscapes in areas where the soil needs some extra support to remain healthy.

Alliance Construction Supervisor, Mathew Hall (left), and Alliance Landscape Architect, Jillian Pagano (right) share about the early signs of widespread benefits of Biochar in the park.

Thanks to the porous makeup of biochar, the area is now set up to better retain storm water and the team has already observed a decrease in rain water pooling. “By incorporating biochar instead of the usual soil mixture, our goal is to create more longevity in the decompaction process throughout the park,” says Hall. Pagano adds, “If success is seen in the long term–in 5 years as opposed to just 1 year–then we can look to other projects where adding biochar to the decompaction process could create more nutrients and water retention capabilities in the soil.”

Since the initial addition of biochar to this area, the Alliance’s Landscape Management team has planted witchhazel, winterberry, azaleas and spicebush shrubs, some of which first bloomed in spring and are continuing to thrive this summer. The grass has returned to the area and trees have leafed out–a sign of health all around!

Interested in lending a hand to Prospect Park Alliance on projects like these? The best way to help is by remembering to Be a Park Champion. Staying on paths, respecting fencing, keeping dogs on leash outside of designated hours and areas, and cycling only on the park drive helps keep the park’s soil healthy for our landscapes to thrive.

Learn more about the projects the Prospect Park Alliance Design and Construction team is working on to advance our park.

Prospect Park Alliance and NYC Parks launched the park’s first formal nature trail system in Prospect Park, with five routes through the heart of the park’s 350 acres of woodlands and waterways, including Brooklyn’s last remaining upland forest that is home to hundreds of species of native plants and wildlife. In addition, the Old Growth Forest Network, the only national network in the U.S. of protected, old-growth native forests, also designated Prospect Park as Brooklyn’s official Old Growth Forest, which means it is the oldest known forest in Brooklyn. 

Explore these routes and enjoy upcoming tours, family-friendly nature education activities and more: prospectpark.org/trails.

“Getting lost in our woodlands is part of the beauty and magic of Prospect Park,” said Morgan Monaco, President of Prospect Park Alliance, which is responsible for the care of the park’s natural areas. “Since the pandemic, Prospect Park has seen a boom in park visitors exploring these scenic natural areas. While these connections are critical for the health and well-being of our community, it also places this fragile ecosystem at risk. Through this formalized trail system, we welcome the public to enjoy these special places while also protecting wildlife habitats.”  

“Our forests and natural areas are places of relaxation and contemplation. With formalized trails in Prospect Park, we’re making it easier for New Yorkers to unwind from the stresses of urban living and connect with the vibrant natural world that surrounds us, while also protecting the ecology of these wild spaces,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa. “We’re grateful to our partners at the Prospect Park Alliance, and we’re proud of our shared work to care for Brooklyn’s Backyard for all New Yorkers to enjoy.”

The Alliance partnered with NYC Parks to map all trails in the park’s natural areas, including both official paths and visitor-created “desire lines.” With this comprehensive mapping, the Alliance’s dedicated Landscape Management team strategically worked to formalize key trails, inviting parkgoers to explore some of the park’s most scenic locations. Some of the desire lines were formalized, while others were closed through eco-friendly techniques, such as using downed branches to create natural hedges and through the planting of native trees, plants and shrubs. 

“The primary goal of formalizing our trail system is to help our forest remain healthy and vibrant, and invite our community to enjoy these spaces responsibly,” said Leila Mougoui Bakhtiari, Alliance Director of Landscape Management. “The fire we experienced in November 2024, which burned two acres of our woodlands, is a vivid example of just how vulnerable these areas can be. Hundreds of species of native plants and wildlife depend on our forest, and we encourage all who come to experience the park’s natural areas to stay on the designated trails, carry out all that you bring in, and keep dogs on-leash to protect these delicate habitats.” 

Through the dedicated work of the Alliance’s Landscape Management team and volunteers over the past several years, five scenic routes are now ready to welcome visitors: Lullwater Trail, Peninsula Trail, Midwood Loop, Ravine Loop, and  Fallkill Trail, which first opened to the public in 2023. Each paved, wood-chipped, gravel and log-lined route route is clearly marked with signage and specially designed blazes, and a complementary web page includes guided tours of the routes through Bloomberg Connects. 

“It is with pleasure and pride that we welcome Prospect Park into the Old-Growth Forest Network as the forest representative for Kings County. To honor and celebrate this extraordinary forest is to honor and celebrate the extraordinary people who have valued and protected it. We want to recognize Prospect Park Alliance, the NYC Parks’ Natural Resources Group and volunteers as well as all of Prospect Park’s previous stewards and advocates for their work in preserving this special forest for future generations,” said Sarah RobbGrieco, Old-Growth Forest Network’s Northeast Regional Manager.

Background on Prospect Park Natural Areas

Prospect Park is home to 350 acres of natural areas, including meadows, forest and lake in the heart of Brooklyn—essential for the community and the plants and animals who rely on this green haven. Since its founding, Prospect Park Alliance has undertaken an extensive restoration of the park’s natural areas, including the woodland Ravine and the park’s historic watercourse and lake, which suffered from significant erosion and neglect. The Alliance’s work to restore the Park’s woodlands over the past two decades represents a $15 million investment that has encompassed nearly 200 acres of woodlands, and the planting and ongoing care of more than 500,000 trees, plants and shrubs.

For the past 30 years, these natural areas have been and continue to be the primary focus of Prospect Park Alliance’s work. The Alliance’s Landscape Management team includes ecologists, ecological zone gardeners, wildlife and aquatic technicians, an arborist and more who work tirelessly to make the woodlands healthy and resilient to the challenges faced by an urban forest in the era of climate change. Through their management, Brooklynites will have a flourishing forest in their midst for generations to come.