Naples Lakes Country Club Earns Top International Biodiversity Award from Audubon

Naples Lakes County Club (napleslakesfl.com) was recently named the international winner of Audubon International’s worldwide Bioblitz competition. NLCC received the Biodiversity Award for the greatest number of species counted, competing with numerous golf course communities from around the world.

Volunteers at this year’s event spotted, identified, and listed a total of 496 species including the Federally-threatened Wood Stork, and the Little Blue and Tricolored Herons, both state-threatened species in Florida. The community has participated in Audubon International’s BioBlitz each year since the program’s inception in 2015.

“Naples Lakes Country Club is extremely honored to win the Biodiversity Award for the 2018 BioBlitz,” said Bryan Roe, General Manager of Naples Lakes Country Club. “Our residents truly look forward to participating in the annual event and coming together to enjoy the natural habitat that surrounds our community. Our course and community have experienced a remarkable recovery following the devastating effects of Hurricane Irma last September and the amount of species that remained in the area following the storm speaks volumes to the environmentally friendly atmosphere we foster.”

Audubon International’s BioBlitz 2018 recorded over 2,000 unique species of animals, plants, fungi, and insects living on golf courses. A team of enthusiastic Naples Lakes Country Club volunteers, ranging from school groups to birding clubs to professional naturalists, gathered at local events in April and May to discover and document the species inhabiting important green spaces. This involved walking the property and the Arnold Palmer Signature Golf Course where members tracked and recorded the 496 species. This year’s program was sponsored by the United States Golf Association.

BioBlitz is a species counting competition by Audubon International designed to create awareness among golfers and the community about the environmental value of the habitats supported by golf courses. The golf courses that participate are part of an annual international golf movement that brings people together to take a closer look at the habitats provided on golf courses and to count and document the wildlife on their property such as plants, animals, fungi and insects.

The tracking process lays the groundwork for Audubon’s recertification of the property, a process that must be completed every three years. With more than 200 acres of protected nature preserves and lakes, NLCC has been certified as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary since 2001 and is one of only 114 in Florida.

Located at 4784 Naples Lakes Boulevard, Naples Lakes Country Club is a private 490-acre gated golf course and country club community where full membership is included with every residence.