A new project designed to reverse the desperate plight of bumblebees and pollinating insects in the UK, by restoring valuable new habitats on golf courses, is being pioneered by Syngenta and the STRI. The initial pilot project of Operation Pollinator is now running on four selected courses, to provide valuable information on the best management techniques.
Operation Pollinator aims to demonstrate that golf and the environment can co-exist. Simon Elsworth, Syngenta Turf Manager, believes golf courses could provide essential sanctuaries for bumblebees and other beneficial insect species. "Bumblebees play a crucial role as natures' pollinator, but they are in serious decline and need our help now. Helping to resurrect bumblebee populations will help to prove that golf courses can be managed in harmony with the environment."
Golf courses cover 150,000 hectares of UK land area, and creating specialist habitat on less than 0.5% of the area would still make a hugely significant impact on bumblebee numbers, according to Mr Elsworth (right). "Golf courses provide ideal locations because they are stable, little disturbed and normally support significant tracts of land out of play. With the right management these areas could provide ideal habitat for bumblebees and other invertebrates."
Three golf clubs are currently taking part in a trials programme - Loch Lomond in Scotland; Middlesborough Golf Club in the North East and Mid-Herts Golf Club, along with a fully controlled and replicated trials site at the STRI in Bingley, West Yorkshire.
"We want to demonstrate that golf courses and sports facilities can continue to be managed to give the very best of playing conditions, alongside habitat areas managed to give opportunities for wildlife," says Mr Elsworth. "With this approach, the overall environmental contribution of a golf course can be a net gain in biodiversity, whilst maintaining the level of inputs required to produce top quality playing surfaces."
Read more on the GreenCast Syngenta Web Site and become a member of the worthwhile campaign to protect Bumblebees.
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