Conservation & Ecology Case Study 2
Watch more than birdies at St Andrews
Golfers and spectators are being
Birds Foot Trefoil and Red Clover are easy to incorporate into rough areas and will provide an important food source for butterflies and bees
other light vegetation on the banks of streams and ditches. In these cases, a rotary mower has been used to allow access and cutting of the bank (which may be inclined) right up to the stream edge. The cuttings are not captured and end up filling-up the watercourse, smothering the habitat and presumably eutrophying the water in the longer term.
The issue of apparently lax application of the selective herbicides used routinely on golf courses and other sports grounds, and the subsequent effects on water bodies and other adjacent habitats is, of course, well-known.
Whilst surveying all manner of sites, I often take the opportunity to chat with site managers and owners. In doing so, I definitely don’t take the prescriptive approach which I have seen others employ. In the vast majority of instances (including sports grounds and shooting grounds), I have encountered
Jan Miller is a freelance writer on wildlife conservation and the environment.
She is the author of ‘Gardening for Butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects; a how to guide’.
You can read a review of this book on page 45 of this issue.
Email:
jan@7wells.org
very little positivity or interested attitudes during such discussions on the site’s wildlife and habitats.” T’wold vicar would though, no doubt, approve of modern efforts to improve wildlife on golf courses.
encouraged to enjoy nature, as well as the golf, with a guide to the wildlife and habitats of the world famous Old Course. Produced by The Royal & Ancient, with support from Scottish
Natural Heritage (SNH), the Scottish Golf Environment Group, St Andrews Links Trust, the Scottish Golf Union and the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, the booklet is a guide to the birds, animals, insects and plants that might be seen while watching the championship. It also explains about the habitats and careful management of the Old Course, and the other courses found at the Home of Golf, highlighting the important contribution that golf courses can make to biodiversity.
Renowned worldwide for the quality and character of its golf courses and its beautiful setting, the St Andrews area is also nationally and
internationally important for its wildlife and habitats.
The Links and surrounding area are home to a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Area of
Conservation, a Special Protection Area for birds and a Ramsar site or wetland of international importance.
Birds which might be seen on the course include goldfinches, skylarks, linnets and owls. Native plants such as lady's bedstraw and northern marsh orchids thrive in the rough
grassland and are home to insects, voles and shrews which in turn feed stoats and kestrels.
its boundaries which can be used as a donor site for transplanting to other areas of the course. A vegetation classification map, along with a map of dune heights, is being utilised to pick out the best areas to establish new Marram communities before
transplanting occurs.
Weeds such as Ragwort and Dock are kept under control by handweeding the roughs. A small proportion of the Ragwort is left alone in certain areas as a food source for butterfly and moth larvae.
Along with many other golf courses around the country, the Old Course is managed for nature as well as golf. Coastal erosion is a threat to the courses at St Andrews and the booklet explains how an
environmentally friendly approach, recharging the
dunes with sand, and using marram grass and wooden fences to encourage dune stabilisation, was preferred.
As well as being behind this booklet, the Scottish Golf Environment Group offers Scotland’s golf courses free advice on managing for wildlife and encouraging environmental best practice. Funded by the Scottish Golf Union, The R&A and SNH, the group covers such things as waste
management, sustainable drainage and energy conservation as well as other topics.
Katherine Leys of Scottish Natural Heritage said: “It is particularly welcome to see golfing and environmental bodies working closely together on conservation practices. Scotland is really leading the way in the world of golf and the environment. The
traditional management of Scottish links courses can create a challenging golfing environment, but it can also conserve some of the rarest and most fragile wildlife.”
The R&A’s director of golf course management, Steve Isaac, added: “This is the third time The R&A has produced an environmental booklet for St Andrews and, having covered the general wildlife value in 2000 and the St Andrews Links Trust’s environmental management plan in 2005, it seemed fitting to focus on habitat
management.The R&A demonstrates an excellent working relationship between golf and environmental
organisations and highlights the benefits that golf courses can bring to us all through sustainable management.”
APRIL/MAY 2013 PC 53
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