Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, home of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, has launched a birdlife census to add to its incredible biodiversity commitment.

The Real Club de Golf Sotogrande received a well-deserved endorsement of its environmental commitment through the GEO (Golf Environment Organization) certification, the most prestigious and demanding golf course certification in Europe. This accredits that environmental responsibility is the main guide in the maintenance work of the course and all the club's facilities, and sets a clear objective: to improve the natural environment and ensure its future development.

Among the environmental management initiatives adopted, all framed in the CEO certification, the club's managers decided to carry out a census of birdlife, a project that will last for a year and that will serve to take measures to promote the conservation or increase the number of birds present in the course.

As a preamble to this year's census commissioned to Golfandbirds, 45 nest boxes were installed last autumn in cork oaks to encourage nesting, “homes” that have already been used by species common in the area such as blue tits and chickadees.

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 divulging their values in order to have a comprehensive idea of what we have and to try to promote the presence of birdlife,” said Tirado.

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

“Birds of the order of passerines (warblers, tits, wagtails, finches, sparrows, chickadees, goldfinches), of the family of hirundinids (planes and swallows of different species) and, around the lakes, waterfowl abound. We have also detected the presence of less common and very striking species, such as the common kestrel, the booted eagle, the pied flycatcher or the common flycatcher”, said 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 in an area of passage very close to the Strait of Gibraltar.

“The perfect integration of the golf course in the landscape and its location next to the Guadalquitón estate, the last cork oak grove that reaches the sea, favors the presence of birds coming from the natural park of Los Alcornocales,” explains the biologist. “In addition, the proximity of the natural site of the Guadiaro river estuary means that the area has special protection, something that is reflected in the variety of fauna present”.

In fact, the figure of “natural place” of the estuary offers a level of legal protection superior to that of “natural park”, circumstance that benefits its faunistic and vegetal wealth.

The birdlife census that is being carried out and will continue throughout 2024 is another example of the vocation of Real Club de Golf Sotogrande and its full commitment to environmental conservation. This approach, and the responsible use of natural resources (especially water) is present in all maintenance work on the golf course, which seeks excellence in the state of the grass through sustainable practices that respect nature.

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

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 with electric machinery capable of operating with the resources generated at the club.

In the environmental side, to the actions promoted by the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande must be added those of the DP World Tour framed in the Green Drive program, integrated in the Golf for Good initiative of the Tour. Among them are the annual cleaning of the beach of Sotogrande (which last year was attended by Jorge Campillo and Rasmus Hojgaard, who joined their efforts to those of the International School of Sotogrande students) and the measures that the DP World Tour is implementing to offset the carbon emissions of both staff working in the infrastructure of the tournament and the spectators who come to enjoy it.

The Green Drive program was developed to promote social and environmental responsibility in order to generate a positive impact at each of the tournaments on the tour's calendar. In addition, the DP World Tour has signed the United Nations Sport for Climate Action initiative and has committed to reduce its carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, and to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040.

Tickets for the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, to be played at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande from October 17-20, can be purchased here.

The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, an event in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai made possible by the essential contribution of the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Junta de Andalucía, jointly funded by the EU and was declared Event of Exceptional Public Interest by the Government of Spain.