A sanctuary of

Biodiversity

A Native Flora and Fauna Restoration

A major part of our project is the native landscape rehabilitation. Royal Sydney has worked with leading ecologists to develop a comprehensive native restoration using local endemic plant species to create a more sustainable, biodiverse landscape.

In this new landscape, mowing, watering and fertiliser applications will be unnecessary amid groves of trees and heathland plantings, significantly boosting habitat available for an increased array of fauna, including native invertebrates, frogs, reptiles, birds and bats.

Royal Sydney has worked with ecological consultants, Cumberland Ecology, to develop a Biodiversity Management Plan – a schedule of ongoing conservation, restoration and maintenance activities for the flora and fauna to be retained on the site, as well as the tasks, procedures and methods to achieve this.

BMP Vision Statement

Recent ecological research on golf courses in southern Australia has confirmed the high biodiversity values of golf courses and has illustrated that native vertebrate and invertebrate fauna respond very well to regeneration and active management of native or planted native vegetation (Threlfall et al. 2014, Threlfall et al. 2015, Mata et al. 2017, Threlfall et al. 2017).

Royal Sydney acknowledges these findings and have incorporate d into future plans to manage the golf course.

In 2022 the golf course was approved for renovation and landscape rehabilitation. An integral part of that work will entail much of the grassland “rough” beneath and around trees being replaced by plantings of native heathland species and other native plant species. Thirteen hectares of land will transform to heathland, while other substantial areas of the course will be planted out with thousands of additional native trees. Mowing, fertiliser application and watering will cease in these areas.
As part of the planning for the renovation and landscape rehabilitation Royal Sydney has implemented a landscape restoration using local native plant species to create a more sustainable, biodiverse landscape and provide players with a more challenging golf course experience. Future management will actively promote and provide for native wildlife. Mowing, watering and fertiliser application will be unnecessary amid groves of trees and heathland plantings, significantly boosting habitat available for an increased array of fauna, including native invertebrates, frogs, reptiles, birds and bats.
Biodiversity will be actively promoted and managed in perpetuity following prescriptions in this Biodiversity Management Plan (BMP). The renovated golf course will retain most of the existing trees though some trees must be removed to allow for new native plantings.

Royal Sydney’s Bay Course will transform through active management to be a haven for a wide variety of native flora and fauna.

Paperbark Wetland

With the Club constructing a new dam as part of the Bay Course redevelopment, Royal Sydney transformed its old irrigation dam into a paperbark wetland – the first of its kind in the local area.

This included the planting of more than 200 paperbark trees, creating a wetland environment that represents an ideal habitat for a variety of fauna, particularly wetland birds.

Since its construction, the Paperbark Wetland has become a permanent home to a variety of birdlife such Australian wood ducks and white ibises, as well as wide array of amphibian and aquatic life.