This English Golf Course Became a Wetland for Endangered Birds, and It's Already Working

A coastal golf course in Lincolnshire, England is now a sprawling wetland nature reserve called Sandilands, and the wildlife didn’t waste any time moving in. The National Trust bought the property in 2020 and converted it into an area equivalent to 45 football fields. Avocets and oystercatchers started nesting successfully before the project was even officially complete. The reserve will never use pesticides or public drinking water again, and it’s now home to plovers, terns, avocets, and lapwings.

Sandilands isn’t the only course rethinking its relationship with the environment. CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora, Colorado irrigates with recycled wastewater and native wildflowers. About 33 percent of Colorado golf courses use recycled wastewater, which is above the national average. Superintendent Mitch Savage says it’s something the team is proud of, since golf courses aren’t taking valuable drinking water away from residents.

The stakes here are bigger than one course. US golf courses cover 2.24 million acres, an area larger than Delaware. If more courses adopt recycled water and native plants, or get rewilded entirely, the impact on biodiversity and water conservation could be enormous. Ranger Katie Scott says many of the species at Sandilands are endangered or rare and depend on places like this to rest, feed, and breed.

Would you want to see a golf course near you converted into a nature reserve? Tell us in the comments.