Naples Lakes Country Club Earns Top Biodiversity Award from Audubon

Naples Lakes Country Club Otters Photo Courtesy of Michael Powers

Naples Lakes Country Club was recently named a top winner of Audubon International’s 5th annual BioBlitz, Sponsored by the United States Golf Association (USGA). Competing with other Florida golf course communities, Naples Lakes earned close second-place honors for sighting 508 species on its Arnold Palmer Signature golf course.

According to Monica D. Higgins, 2nd Assistant Superintendent of Naples Lakes, “Volunteers at this year’s event spotted, identified, and listed 48 different bird species, 13 mammals, 77 insects, 19 reptiles and fish, 9 amphibians, 5 other animals, including wild hog, wood duck and Florida black beer, plus 377 plants, fungi and lichens. The bird tour revealed Purple Martins and Killdeer. On the Plant Identification Tour, members found native orchids blooming near the 14th tee. During their Critters of the Night tour, the members found two bears sitting on the cartpath!”

The community has participated in Audubon International’s BioBlitz each year since the program’s inception in 2015 and Monia Higgins has guided the event since the program began. She adds, “Although we didn’t get first place this year, this is the fifth year we have been one of the top two finalists.”

The BioBlitz provides a unique opportunity for golf courses to engage their community members in activities designed to showcase and record the abundance of wildlife found on their course landscapes. Nearly 1,000 volunteers visited golf courses worldwide to participate in the event.

“Naples Lakes Country Club is extremely honored to win the Biodiversity Award for the 2019 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.”

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.

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. Event participants count and document the wildlife on their property. The tracking process lays the groundwork for Audubon’s recertification of the property, a process that must be completed every three years.

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.

For more information, visit NaplesLakesFL.com. Twitter | Facebook.