Environmentalists protest Dubai golf courses

Any superlative announcement coming out of Dubai these days is almost met with indifference, such is the speed and scale the Emirate is engaging itself to become the biggest, highest or best of whichever project is on the table that day. The news that Dubai wants to be one of the world’s best golf destinations should therefore come as no surprise, but with plans to build eleven new courses to compliment its existing seven, environmentalists are stepping in to show opposition to the project.

Co-founder of responsibletravel.com Justin Francis is concerned of the environmental impact these new high-profile courses will have, which include greens and fairways designed by legends such as Tiger Woods and Ernie Els. He says, “Golf courses are being constructed in Dubai at breakneck speed. My biggest concern about this rate of construction is the amount of water required. In general, a golf course needs about a million cubic metres of water per hectare [2.5 acres] per year – equivalent to the water consumption of a city of 12,000 inhabitants.”

“The proposal to develop 11 new courses in such an arid desert environment throws up serious questions about the long-term sustainability of such a venture, both environmentally and in terms of how it could impinge upon the water needs of local communities,” says Tourism Concern’s director Tricia Barnett.