Awareness of the enormous socio-environmental impact of golf courses and measures to mitigate them is required to gain maximum benefit from the economic and ecological opportunities a golf course can offer. ('Golf ecology', by Deepak Acharya, #190)

An average 18-hole golf course needs more than 60 hectares of land. Access roads to courses and their artificial landscaping leave devastating footprints on the ecosystem. If it is not forests then it is agricultural lands. Golf courses are littered with dead ants and other insects, the culprit is pesticides. An average golf course uses 11-18 kg of pesticides per hectare, while in agriculture a common application rate is just over 2.5 kg. The chemicals contaminate surface and ground water. Most pesticides remain intact in nature for a long time and enter the food chain.

Golf courses with lush fairways and perfect greens are also water guzzlers. The Worldwatch Institute estimates that an average course in Thailand needs as much water as required to meet the daily demand of 60,000 villagers in the country. So, having golf courses in water stressed Kathmandu or Dharan means a huge additional water demand met primarily by heavily extracting groundwater reserves. Replenishment is always lower as most of the water is lost to evaporation. Ground water reserves, forests and open spaces are local commons and when they are unfairly encroached upon by private businesses, resentment of affected communities is an expected outcome. There is no denying that golf generates enough money to take care of its own problems. But we must address the land, water use and pesticides issues so as to ensure that local communities' needs are also properly taken care of. Limiting construction of new courses only in water abundant areas, strictly applying integrated pest management techniques, avoiding conventional irrigation systems, following mandatory environmental impact assessments and equitably sharing benefits with local communities could be some ways to minimise socio-environmental impacts. We have an excellent opportunity to learn from the mistakes of other countries.

Jugal Bhurtel,
Moscow