Let us be honest: Golf courses have a bad reputation in terms of environmental impact. And in many cases it is very justified. But we ask ourselves if it really needs to be so...

Many, if not most, of the golf courses in the world could be considered serious environmental liabilities with excessive use of water, fertilizers, pesticides and fossil fuel.  However, the El Chocolatal Golf Eco-Resort has been conceived and designed to be a significant environmental asset contributing both to the broad conservation efforts in the Amazon region, and to providing appropriate livelihood for inhabitants of the area. Soon, you will be able to see the full environmental policy of the golf course on this page. But to give you an idea, already, of what we wish to pursue with this initiative, below is a short extract from the policy.

When analyzing golf courses in the context of nature conservation Audubon International recognizes identifies two scales (Dodson, 2005), landscape and site. The broad or Landscape scale examines the potential contribution of the golf course beyond its limits to adjacent properties or broad landscapes.  This source identifies 6 categories (A-F) where category A has “surrounding landscape supporting globally significant elements” and Category F where “the surrounding Landscape is degraded or developed and contains few native species or little natural habitat”.  Our golf course qualifies as Category A, the very highest level because of its potential value in buffering, protecting or otherwise contributing to the adjacent mega conservation units.  Madidi National Park, to which the golf course is close which accounts for 1.8 million ha of the 4.1 million adjacent in Bolivia and Peru, is by itself already considered the richest park in the world in terms of biological diversity.  Along with the adjacent areas, such as the Pilon Lagas Bioreserve, which is neighbour to El Chocolatal Golf Eco-Resort, it constitutes one of the greatest wildernesses in the world.

We intend for the golf course to contribute to the complex in three ways:

First, though the golf course represents a tiny (600 meter) portion of the hundreds of kilometers of protected area boundaries, Rurrenabaque is the most accessible part of the complex, and the golf course can help to control access in precisely the most accessible area.  With extensive native forests between and above the fairways, the golf course will constitute a desirable vegetation transition or buffer to the intact protected areas mentioned above.

Secondly, while the huge complex of protected areas is completely legalized in both Peru and Bolivia, neither country is close to being able to support the management of these areas on a sustainable basis.  Nor is either country close to providing full alternative employment to people who would otherwise be exploiting the natural resources in the protected areas.  Tourism has so far been the activity that contributes most to the costs of maintaining these protected areas.  The golf course is intended to provide sustainable employment for local people and to attract new tourists to the area, or have them remain longer in the area.

Thirdly, through our carbon offset policy outlined in the environmental policy we intend for users of the golf course to consciously contribute to the direct costs of maintaining these protected areas.

Sandy soil makes artificial drainage systems unnecessary and is ideal for strong and resistant local grass types

Construction of the golf course is labour intensive, but with little use of mechanical intervention.