Accolade for Fife Golf Trust at Scottish environment awards

The Kirkcaldy based organisation, established in 2012, manages seven golf courses on behalf of Fife Council, and is responsible for a greenspace area of almost 550 hectares.

The business received recognition in the Nature Rich Scotland Award category at VIBES, which celebrates businesses that are leading the way in the transition to a net zero economy, reducing waste, and promoting sustainable practices.

FGT has embedded biodiversity gains and sustainability into its day-to-day operations via a Sustainable Management Strategy and its work is a formal part of the Fife Local Biodiversity Action Plan.

It also has an International Golf Environment Organisation (GEO) certification, placing it into the same arena as commercial golf courses such as the St Andrews Links Trust and Carnoustie Golf Links.

It has achieved significant biodiversity improvements including the creation of 17 hectares of meadow and over eight hectares of woodland, seven new wetlands, four new ponds, a ‘bee bank’ on each course and nearly 2km of watercourses planned for naturalisation.

Its ‘Seven Golf Courses for Nature’ model is helping to build resilience and climate adaptation.

The trust has piloted an innovative 'Golf for Health' partnership with the Royal & Ancient and St Andrews University around ‘golf prescriptions’ to improve patients' health and wellbeing, and designed and built a six-hole ‘Park Golf’ course for the less able at its Dunnikier site, which was a catalyst for introducing the Japanese game of Park Golf to Scotland.

David Gray, golf courses manager, said: “We are honoured to receive this fantastic award which recognises the positive contribution we have made to nature and the environment as land managers.

"We are passionate about practicing sustainable golf course management, and whilst we manage our greenspaces primarily for golf, we ensure these spaces have a diverse ecosystem promoting a wonderful habitat for wildlife.

"Our recent Nature Restoration Fund project allowed us to intensify our biodiversity and ecological commitments, and to have this hard work recognised is a significant milestone for us.

"We would like to thank all FGT staff and volunteers for their hard work delivering the project, our funders NatureScot for making the project possible, and to the judges for identifying our environmental contribution."