The Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, venue for the Estrella Damm NA Andalucía Masters, has launched a bird census that adds to its commitment to the defense and study of its biodiversity.

The Real Club de Golf Sotogrande received well-deserved recognition for its environmental commitment through the GEO (Golf Environment Organization) certification, the most prestigious and demanding certification in Europe specifically for golf courses. This accreditation confirms that environmental responsibility is the guiding principle in the maintenance of the course and all club facilities, and sets a clear objective: to improve the natural environment and ensure its future development.

Among the planning measures for this environmental management, all framed within the CEO certification, the club's managers decided to conduct a bird census, a project that will last for a year and will serve to take measures that favor the conservation or increase the number of birds present in the field.

As a prelude to this year's census commissioned to Golfandbirds, 45 nest boxes were installed in cork oak trees last autumn to encourage nesting, "homes" that have already been used by common species in the area such as blue tits or great tits.

Leading the census project is Sergio Tirado, director of Golfandbirds and a biologist specializing in ornithology with more than 20 years of experience in environmental management.

“Golf courses are biodiversity reserves and for the last decade I have been focused on disseminating and publicizing their richness to have a complete idea of what is there and try to enhance the presence of birds in them,” he explains.

Thanks to their efforts, in the first half of 2024 alone, nearly 2,000 specimens of 54 different species belonging to 30 families have been counted, many of them species known to the general public but which deserve special attention.

“There is an abundance of birds from the order Passeriformes (warbles, blue tits, wagtails, finches, sparrows, great tits, goldfinches), from the family Hirundinidae (martins and swallows of different species) and, around the lakes, waterfowl. We have also detected the presence of less common and very striking species, such as the common kestrel, the booted eagle, the Bonelli's warbler or the common flycatcher,” summarizes Sergio Tirado.

The privileged location of the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande makes it an ideal refuge for both resident and migratory birds, as it is located in a transit area very close to the Strait of Gibraltar.

The house sparrow, the Bonelli's warbler, the little egret and the blue tit, four of the 54 species recorded at the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande (photo © Sergio Tirado / Real Club de Golf Sotogrande)

«The seamless integration of the field into the landscape and its location next to the Guadalquitón estate, the last cork oak forest that reaches the sea, encourages the presence of birds that frequent the Los Alcornocales Natural Park,” explains the biologist. “Furthermore, the proximity of the Guadiaro River estuary natural area means the zone enjoys special protection, which is reflected in the variety of wildlife present.”.

In fact, the designation of the estuary as a "natural area" offers a higher level of legal protection than that of a "natural park," a circumstance that benefits the fauna and flora.

The bird census currently underway, which will continue throughout 2024, is yet another example of Real Club de Golf Sotogrande's dedication and unwavering commitment to environmental conservation. This approach, along with the responsible use of natural resources (especially water), is reflected in all golf course maintenance work, which aims to ensure the turf is in excellent condition through sustainable and environmentally friendly practices.

As Patrick Allende, field director, told us last year, in the environmental impact study carried out for the last restoration of the field, thanks to the measures implemented, a savings of 20 % in water consumption was quantified and a reduction of 25 % in other parameters such as CO2 emissions, the generation of non-hazardous waste and noise emissions.

In addition, the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande has launched a large-scale program to install solar panels to produce energy and gradually replace the traditional machinery fleet with an electric one capable of operating with the resources generated at the club.

In the environmental sphere, in addition to the actions promoted by the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, there are also those of the DP World Tour within the framework of the Green Drive program, part of the circuit's Good for Golf initiative. These include the annual cleanup of Sotogrande beach (which last year featured Jorge Campillo and Rasmus Hojgaard, who joined forces with students from the International School of Sotogrande) and the measures the DP World Tour is implementing to offset the carbon emissions of both the staff working at the tournament venue and the spectators who come to enjoy it.

The Green Drive program was developed to promote social and environmental responsibility, thereby generating a positive impact at every tournament on the tour calendar. Furthermore, the DP World Tour has signed the United Nations Sport for Climate Action initiative and committed to reducing its carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

The Estrella Damm NA Andalucía Masters, a DP World Tour tournament valid for the Race to Dubai, which is held thanks to the essential collaboration of the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport of the Junta de Andalucía, in addition to being co-financed with European funds and having been declared an event of exceptional public interest by the Government of Spain.

SOURCE: Tournament organizers.