European Golf Association - Biodiversity Guidelines

19. January 2011: 'Engaging in the Biodiversity Guidelines'.

What are the EGA Golf Course Committee Biodiversity 10 Step Guidelines?

The EGA GCC and its members firmly believe that golf can contribute significantly to protecting, enhancing and restoring biodiversity through the implementation of best practices in the development and management of golf courses.

For this reason, the EGA GCC proposes the attached 10-step guideline, which is designed to provide an overarching framework complementing and facilitating access to existing guidance on best practice. The EGA GCC encourages its national members to incorporate these guidelines into their work and to seek endorsement by local third parties in order to support the implementation of sustainable practices in golf course management.

Why should your golf organisation care about this?

2010 was the UN ‘Year of Biodiversity'. The EU has a programme to halt the loss of biodiversity. In order for the golfing industry to make an impact in Europe, all Member States

must contribute to building and managing their golf courses sustainably. The EGA GCC encourages you to promote the guidelines in order to make this possible.

All golf courses must work together to halt biodiversity and implement such practices that will enhance it. Golf courses could be perceived by environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as not protecting the environment and its natural resources. In order to avoid such misperceptions, the EGA GCC encourages all golf courses to implement the biodiversity guidelines and seek endorsement to open dialogue with local politicians and NGOs.

To find out more and to discover how your golf organisation can get involved, read the full document here.