NDR and Badische Zeitung have recently published articles about our BfN project Golf Sustainable that started in April 2023. The project is funded within the Federal Programme for Biological Diversity by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with resources from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection.
To assess and enhance the ecological aspects and biological diversity of golf courses, we are partnering with the universities of Kiel, Munich, and Münster, along with the German Golf Association (DGV). The primary objective of this project is to sustainably promote biodiversity through a range of landscape design interventions. To tangibly enhance biodiversity on golf courses throughout Germany, we have devised a comprehensive five-step strategy:
- Conducting a landscape analysis to evaluate the biodiversity on 32 golf courses.
- Implementing a combination of upgraded hay meadows, flower strips, borders, and shrubbery in designated areas.
- Investigating the impacts of these “biodiversity enhancement measures” on various species such as locusts, butterflies, wild bees, birds, and bats. This research will be carried out by scientists in collaboration with golf club members.
- Applying the findings from the research to develop enhancement plans for an additional 32 golf courses.
- Providing training to golf course staff, establishing connections with other sports facilities, municipalities, and associations, conducting environmental education programs for school groups, and engaging in public relations efforts to raise awareness about biodiversity on golf courses.
At the heart of our sub-project at the University of Freiburg lies the comprehensive analysis of proposed measures aimed at enhancing biodiversity on upgraded golf courses. This analysis takes the form of a before-and-after comparison as well as a comparison between sites where these measures are implemented and those where they are not (with-without comparison). We intend to carry out this assessment through a dual approach: one involving direct engagement with golf course users (a citizen-scientific approach) and the other involving ecological mapping conducted by professional ecologists (a scientific approach).