Every year, Surrey Wildlife Trust provides projects for the SATRO Research Work Placement scheme, producing some fantastic results. SATRO organise research placements for students aged 16+ to undertake a genuine STEM (Science, Technology, Maths and Engineering) based research project, working within an employer or academic research environment. The placement runs for four weeks during the Summer, enabling students to work alongside qualified professionals and experts. 

This summer we worked with four students, split into two teams looking at two different angles of Nature Based Solutions. The second group, Isaac and Jennifer, looked at how we could use Nature Based Solutions on golf courses, as they own a huge amount of land in the UK. They designed some custom solutions and have done some great research to help our NBS team at Surrey Wildlife Trust.

You can read Jennifer's report here and Isaac's report here.

Jennifer focused her project on the issue of water conservation on golf courses. She found that an average 18 hole course can use over 2 billion gallons of water per day. A study looking at US golf courses showed that most of this water comes from nearby ponds and lakes. This intensive water use can pose huge problems for the local environment, especially as freshwater becomes less available during drought periods caused by climate change.

She found that there are a variety of ways you can use natural solutions on a golf course to reduce its water consumption, such as using specific types of grass that require less water, using natural water hazards and using rainwater collection solutions to store water. Her course design below showcases a variety of options for water conservation on a golf course.

Isaac investigated the economic side of Nature Based Solutions on golf courses. Any solution used on a golf course is likely to be more favourable for the club if it can be a source of income. Golf courses potentially hold very high natural capital values, which could be increased by implementing Nature Based Solutions.

Some of the proposals Isaac suggested were to use breeds of grass such as 'zoysiagrass' for the greens, which would mean the courses could save money on use of fertilisers and pesticides. The reduction in the use of these is also obviously highly beneficially for the environment. He also recommended that the golf courses increase the areas of woodland on the courses, which would act as important carbon stores as well as providing a nicer environment for the clients to play in. 

Isaac also suggested that government schemes and financial interventions could play a role in supporting the use of nature based solutions on golf courses. "Nature based solutions are merit goods as they are associated with positive externalities. This naturally means they are underproduced and under consumed so the best way to encourage the use of NBS would be to use government schemes like subsidising, taxing, or regulating." His two financial interventions are described below:

You can read about part 1 of this year's projects here

If you would like to find out more about our work with SATRO you can check out their website. Or, if you are interested in doing a research project yourself you can find out more on our Research and Monitoring page!