Grant of £247,000 over 2002-03 and 2003-04 from Aggregates Levy funding supported a Sustainability in Golf project. The purpose of the project was to demonstrate the sustainable development of golf, allowing guidelines for effective sustainable action to be formulated, and promotion of this improving the profile of Scottish golf internationally.
Scotland is recognised worldwide as the Home of Golf. The potential for the golfing sector to be a leader in sustainable development and management is great. Golf brings 100,000 visitors to Scotland each year, and £177 million to the Scottish economy through golf tourism, employment and associated merchandising. There are 584 Golf Clubs in Scotland, with 250,000 members. 80 new courses have been built in the last 10 years.
Golf courses cover almost 30,000 hectares of land and fresh water. They are in strategically important areas such as coastlines, green belts, greenspace within towns and cities. They are habitats of local, national and international importance - havens for a vast range of biodiversity, and harbours for species in decline and of conservation concern.
The Sustainability in Golf Initiative was carried out by the Scottish Golf Environment Group and covered:
- Communicating sustainability: through media including a sustainability CD Rom, newsletter and website - with information on energy, sustainable development, biodiversity.
- Sustainable Management of existing facilities: environmental management, co-ordinating efforts on Local Biodiversity Action Plan delivery, research and guidance on waste.
- Biodiversity: undertaking applied research into the ecological function of golf courses, comparing them with other land uses to establish biodiversity importance of different course types. Defining habitat design features for new and existing courses.
- Waste: development of resources and advisory work in areas of waste management, spreading awareness to the golfing sector with easy-to-use guidance.
- Energy: communicating understanding of energy saving measures, ranging from low-cost easy-to-implement ideas to larger-scale measures such as thermal storage and solar power.
- Climate change and the effects on golf course maintenance: providing climate change information and showing how it is likely to affect golf clubs. A longer growing season adds to maintenance needs, warmer, moister conditions allow fungal disease growth, and new pests such as chafer beetle are being recorded in Scotland.
- Education: work with junior golf partnership on integration of golf into school curriculum relating to the environment and other subjects and themes including social studies.
- New golf facility development: environmental and landscape impacts of these need to be addressed. Production of a Construction Methods Statement, giving guidance to developers, architects, planners and statutory consultees.
Contact: www.sgeg.org.uk