Conservation & Ecology
Welcome to our special Conservation & Ecology section, which looks at some of the important issues facing our industry. We begin with the third in a series of articles from the Golf Environment Organization who look at issues relating to the natural environment - landscapes and ecosystems, habitats and vegetation types, and the values these bring to golf courses and biodiversity all around the world.
here are six key action areas of sustainability - Nature, Water, Energy, Environmental Quality, Supply Chains, and Communities. Improving your performance in each is good for your business, good for the game, and good for the people involved with your club.
T Nature - Great Golf Environments
An incredible variety of different landscapes and ecosystems cover the surface of our earth. These are the places in which we live, work, rest and play, and which we share with an awe-inspiring number of other plant and animal species. Golfing in such wild, rich and biodiverse living landscapes undoubtedly provides an added dimension and an extra enjoyment to the game.
Environmental Handicap
The 2005 Millenium Ecosystem Assessment demonstrated the significant
underlying and escalating impact that human development and activity has on the biodiversity of the world’s ecosystems. Dozens of academic journals, peer reviewed scientific studies, and global indicators demonstrate how the Earth’s ‘life support’ systems are feeling the strain. It’s not too late to turn things around.
Last year, at events such as the UN Rio+20 Conference on sustainable development, Governments aimed to define new goals that would reduce biodiversity loss. Meanwhile, the importance of private sector, voluntary conservation of ecosystems, habitats and species has never been greater. As a sport with large natural surface
area requirements, golf courses are often located in interesting and sensitive places with high ecological value. Golf facilities can help bring a genuine, meaningful contribution to biodiversity and ecosystem conservation, as part of their stable and managed functioning of green spaces.
Golf for Good
A number of recent surveys have reaffirmed that golfers appreciate the quality of the landscape around them whilst they play. In addition, golfers emphasised their desire for courses to support and accommodate wildlife. These findings are very important.
They remind us that, whilst the quality of playing surfaces are fundamental to the
game, these can be achieved and integrated into stimulating surroundings that stir the senses, as golfers enjoy an authentic outdoor experience. The implications are also important in terms of golf ’s ecological contribution. Rather than restricting the amount of natural and semi-natural vegetation on and around the course, this view advocates that ecological richness can be embraced as part of the unique golfing experience that every course can offer. This is how the most sustainably managed golf clubs, led by skilled, creative and professional course managers, are looking at their courses, asking how can we enrich the biodiversity of the course, landscape value, and the golfing experience at the same time?
Money does grow on trees
And, it’s a winner for business too. A landscape and ecosystem led approach to course design, construction and management boosts the bottom line. Every small patch of turfgrass or vegetation that can be converted back into a more natural state saves energy, water, time and, importantly, money. People are increasingly associating natural environments with greater quality and, as a result, golf is a better product. In this time of rapid urban expansion, we need to reconnect with nature for the good of our health.
The Golf Environment Organization
Money does grow on trees!
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