For Environment Minister Glauber, the Blühpakt is a success story
“This cooperation is really a success story” – with these words, Thorsten Glauber, Bavaria’s State Minister for the Environment and Consumer Protection, emphasized on Tuesday the importance of the cooperation with the Bavarian Golf Association (BGV) as part of the Bavarian Flowering Pact. At the Munich Golf Club, Glauber presented awards to 15 Bavarian golf courses for their commitment to the program to promote biodiversity and repeatedly emphasized how motivated the golf scene in particular is in its approach to the issue. “I have always sensed that you are really motivated,” he turned to BGV President Arno Malte Uhlig. “The Golf Association was our first Blühpakt-partner three years ago, and to this day there is no other partner with whom we have as much contact.”
The project “Blühpakt Bayern” (Flowering Pact Bavaria) is intended to give golf courses an introduction to measures to promote biodiversity. In cooperation with the Landesbund für Vogelschutz, the registered clubs receive support from LBV experts, who advise them free of charge on the implementation of the measures. “I’m right on target with this event,” LBV Chairman Dr. Norbert Schäffer also expressed his extreme satisfaction with the cooperation with the golf courses. “There are really good people out there with you, including in greenkeeping, who have a strong commitment to the issue.” Given that golf courses have largely been built on cleared agricultural land, their contribution to biodiversity should certainly not be underestimated, he said.
For the representatives of the 15 golf courses, who received the Blühpakt certificates personally from Environment Minister Glauber on Tuesday, the event was a positive confirmation of their work. After all, the expansion of meadow areas, according to the summary of various club representatives, is always an issue that is criticized by one or the other golfer. “Overall, however, it is the flowering areas that we have created around the tees that are being excellently received,” notes Markus Jobst, playing captain at GC Lauterhofen.
“We wanted to move up a level, learn new things and also have a challenge,” Angelika Eckart, general manager of Golf Park Jura, explained the motivation for participating. “In particular, we have now significantly expanded the area of communication and, for example, organized a guided tour with the local LBV, which was very well received.”
In the meantime, a total of 41 plants have been awarded within the framework of the “Blühpakt Bayern”. For the president of the Bavarian Golf Association, Arno Malte Uhlig, the cooperation is thus going extremely well: “It suits us golfers very well to be able to prove that we are careful with the areas that are available to us,” he summed up. What was also pleasing about the cooperation with the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment and the Blühpakt team was the openness with which golf was approached right from the start.
The good cooperation holds potential for both sides: During the Blühpakt event, Glauber and Uhlig signed the contract for the further extension of the cooperation. “We are still planning additions and improvements to the program here, which will certainly be of interest to the golf courses,” Dr. Stephan Niederleitner, as head of the Blühpakt team in the Ministry of the Environment, was also pleased with the continuation of the cooperation. The Blühpakt Bayern should continue to be a success story.
The following golf courses were awarded:
Bayreuth Golf Club, OPEN.9 Golf Eichenried, St. Eurach Land- und Golfclub, Golfplatz Iffeldorf, Golfanlage Holledau,Jura Golf Park – Golf Club Am Habsberg, Golfclub Lauterhofen, Golf-Club Lindau – Bad Schachen, Golfclub Main-Spessart, Golfclub Reichsstadt Bad Windsheim, Golfclub Schloss Elkofen e.V., Grafing, Golf Club Schweinfurt, Golfclub Steigerwald in Geiselwind e. V., Golf Valley GmbH, Golfclub Waldegg-Wiggensbach
