> I refer you to my message that I sent to Birding-Aus earlier today.
> Birds Australia IS
> actively involved in advising golf clubs about making their courses
> more suitable for
> birds and other wildlife. YOU and everyone else can help in this
> process by taking part
> in the Birds On Golf Courses Project (see p20 of the March 1997 issue
> of Wingspan).
>
I think the golf course thread has just about outlived its use-by date.
However, I'd still make the point that we (including Birds Australia or
not) should still recognise that golf courses REPLACE bird habitat in
many places, rather than AUGMENT it. I can think of only one golf
course (out of a dozen or so) that was initiated on farmland in my area,
rather than being carved out of native vegetation (it's gone broke BTW).
The reason why some golf courses are good for birding (ie. some birds
are easy to see there) is that the habitat that the golf course was
plonked into was good (or better) for birding too. In most cases, even
if they are "birdy", golf courses are less complete habitats than what
they replaced; and in any case what about other biota than birds? How
many golf courses are good places to see native mammals or butterflies
or frogs ....... ?
> I also repeat my earlier point that the Australian golfing industry is
> drawing up a code
> of best practice for environmental management of their courses. This
> has been due
>
What about best practice when planning the course? That is, why put it
in that woodland, when it could be put on that clapped-out bit of
farmland????
It's fine & desirable to try and have an input into managing existing
golf courses with environmental sympathy, but I think we should also be
trying to instill that way of thinking BEFORE the off.
Lawrie Conole
Geelong, Victoria, Australia
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