OPERATION POLLINATOR
T
designed to reverse the desperate plight of bumblebees and pollinating insects in the UK, by restoring and
Syngenta and the STRI
creating valuable habitats on golf courses, is being pioneered by
96 A new project
he initial pilot project of Operation Pollinator is now running on four selected courses, to provide valuable information on the best management techniques. Operation Pollinator aims to demonstrate that golf and the environment can co-exist. Simon Elsworth, Syngenta Turf Manager, believes golf courses could provide essential sanctuaries for bumblebees and other beneficial insect species. “Bumblebees play a crucial role as nature’s pollinator, but they are in serious decline and need our help now. Helping to resurrect bumblebee populations will help to prove that golf courses can be managed in harmony with the environment.”
Golf courses cover 150,000 hectares of UK land area, and creating specialist habitat on less than 0.5% of the area would still make a hugely significant impact on bumblebee numbers, according to Simon. “Golf courses provide ideal locations because they are stable, little disturbed and normally support significant tracts of land out of play. With the right management these areas could provide ideal habitat for bumblebees and other invertebrates.” Three golf clubs are currently taking part in a trials programme - Loch Lomond in Scotland; Middlesborough Golf Club in the North East and Mid- Herts Golf Club, along with a fully controlled and replicated trials site at the STRI in Bingley, West Yorkshire. “We want to demonstrate that golf
courses and sports facilities can continue to be managed to give the very best of playing conditions, alongside habitat areas managed to give opportunities for wildlife. With this approach, the overall environmental contribution of a golf course can be a net gain in biodiversity, whilst maintaining the level of inputs required to produce top quality playing surfaces.”
Simon believes that even the most intensively played golf courses can find space for environmental habitat creation. For some clubs this may incorporate rough management but, in most instances, it will be out of play areas which can be left principally undisturbed. The experiences of those clubs involved in the trial and the involvement of the STRI will further give the reassurance it can be integrated onto other courses. Results should prove extremely valuable to help other courses establish and manage wildlife rich habitats, according to Bob Taylor, Head of Ecology and Environment at STRI. He believes the management practices developed to deliver pollen and nectar rich habitat for bumblebees will be hugely beneficial for other flora and fauna on the golf course. “Improving habitat conditions for bumblebees will represent an important environmental gain with little or no detriment to the playing of the game. It is hoped that this work will generate a wider acceptance and awareness of golf ’s positive environmental role within the wider landscape.”
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