Four important nature conservation projects for golfclubs
You want to campaign for more nature conservation on your golf course, but don’t know where to start. There are various ways to get involved in Bavaria. The best thing about them is that they are generally free of charge and can also be implemented by interested parties who have not yet been involved in the topic.
German Bee Week
The German Bee Week takes place around World Bee Day on May 20. The golf associations of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse and Schleswig Holstein are taking part. Within a week, the golf courses can play tournaments in aid of the bees and receive starter gifts and information material from the associations. The highlight: each golf course decides what it does with the entry fees or green fee income. These can be used in part or in full for projects at their own club. The proceeds remain 100 percent in the club. The aim is to promote biodiversity projects and at the same time raise public awareness of biodiversity in golf clubs. The patron is Bernhard Langer.
Blooming Pact Bavaria
Bavarian golf courses have until June 30 to apply for free participation in the Bavarian Flowering Pact, which is being organized in cooperation with the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment. As part of the Blühpakt, participating golf courses receive free initial advice from experts from the Landesbund für Vogelschutz, which was selected by the Ministry of the Environment. The consultation provides the golf courses with recommendations on the use of plants (wild flowers, perennials, shrubs), tips on how to maintain the areas and advice on further enhancement options. The aim is for the advice to be implemented promptly and for your golf course to become a “Blooming Golf Course”. Only golf courses that meet certain requirements can take part. These include, for example, that at least 30 percent of the open spaces are designed in a near-natural way.
Bavarian Orchard Pact
As part of the Bavarian Orchard Pact, which runs until 2035, golf courses can apply for funding for the planting of new orchard trees. In this way, the Bavarian state government aims to plant one million trees in Bavaria between 2021 and 2025. In addition to the financial support, which comes from various funding pots, golf courses can also receive expert advice, for example on the selection of varieties that can cope with the challenges of climate change.
Golf and Nature
The Golf & Nature program is a classic in the field of sustainable management initiatives, to which numerous Bavarian golf courses have already signed up. Contrary to what the title might suggest, however, the quality management program is only partly concerned with ecological issues. Instead, the focus is on occupational health and safety and operational safety. In a three-stage program, ranging from bronze certification to silver and gold, the golf course works with a consultant to go through the necessary requirements and develop a program for future-oriented management. This is intended to guarantee that optimal management is combined with the highest level of nature conservation. The Golf & Nature program is not free of charge. The initial consultation currently costs 949.50 euros. Any travel costs incurred by the consultant will be added to this.
