The 132 acres of green belt land leased by Maidenhead Golf Club is home to thousands of trees, hedges, plants and funghi, all supporting a rich array of wildlife.
The Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre holds records of 58 protected and notable species recorded on or near to the golf course. These include: hedgehogs; slow worms; stag beetles; swifts; owls; kestrels; bats; badgers; woodpeckers; moths; butterflies; bumblebees; and red kites.
The UK has the lowest biodiversity of the G7
Britain is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, with one in seven species facing extinction1. And according to the government’s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC), the UK has the lowest remaining levels of biodiversity among the world’s richest nations2.
Our council’s own Environment & Climate plan3 says the borough wants to ‘tackle biodiversity loss’ and ‘wildlife and ecosystems provide essential services on which we all depend; clean air and water, crop production through soil formation and pollination services, pest control, essential human health services and climate regulation’.
Help protect wildlife on the golf course by reporting sightings
The Maidenhead Great Park group, alongside Braywick Action Group are campaigning to save this precious greenspace from development, and to keep it green for amenity, wildlife, clean air and water management.
To help us to explain what our community and future generations are set to lose if this parkland is developed with over 2,000 new flats and houses, we’d like to gather more information about the biodiversity supported by the golf course. Please do report any wildlife you see when walking across the golf course on the public footpath to the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre. It’s great if you are able to take photos too.
It’s easy to record your sightings via the TVERC website https://www.tverc.org/cms/content/share-your-records
You can upload the information, or download one of their forms and email it to them at tverc@oxfordshire.gov.uk. The grid reference for the centre of the golf course is SU886797, but you can find something more specific by going to the grid reference finder website https://gridreferencefinder.com/
The more information gathered, the stronger our case will be to explain to our council how valuable this space is for wildlife and biodiversity.
References
1. State of Nature 2016 report https://www.rspb.org.uk/globalassets/downloads/documents/conservation-projects/state-of-nature/state-of-nature-uk-report-2016.pdf
2. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5802/cmselect/cmenvaud/136/136-report.html
3. ‘Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Environment and Climate Strategy 2020-2025’ https://www.rbwm.gov.uk/media/2288/download