BIGGA gives backing to Golf Sustainability Project

The British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association is working alongside England Golf and a number of other organisations to produce a Golf Sustainability Project, and is now appealing for help to take the scheme to the next level.

Golf courses in the UK cover an area equivalent to the Lake District National Park.

Unmanaged areas, which provide habitat for wildlife, wildflowers and other flora and fauna, are estimated to cover more than 1,000 square kilometres, or the equivalent of The New Forest and Pembrokeshire Coastal Parks combined.

Golf courses offer improved air quality, carbon dioxide absorption, air temperature reduction, rainwater run-off attenuation and a host of other valuable natural processes.

The idea of a Golf Sustainability Project has been developed following extensive discussions between Tony Hanson from Environmental Solutions International Ltd, Dr David Slawson and Dr Poppy Lakeman Fraser from Imperial College London and Howard Craft from Burhill Golf and Leisure.

With support from BIGGA, CMAE and England Golf, ESi has designed a short questionnaire, for completion by those in the golf industry, that will gather baseline information on the natural environment and resource consumption.

With sufficient information it may be possible to make a case for funding and resources from a range of NGO's, charities and academic organisations.

BIGGA Sustainability Executive James Hutchinson said: "BIGGA is delighted to be working closely with Environmental Solutions International Ltd and the Golf Sustainability Project. We look forward to assisting the golf industry become more sustainable and as a consequence to be heard by the Parliamentary decision makers."

To help out with the scheme, download the questionnaire from England Golf and return it to Tony Hanson via email - thanson@esinternational.co.uk