About this Episode
A quiet environmental transformation is happening around the world: former golf courses are being “rewilded” — turned back into thriving natural ecosystems.
For decades, golf courses have taken up vast amounts of land, often requiring heavy water use, fertilizers and pesticides. But as some courses close or fall into disuse, communities are choosing a different path — restoring these landscapes to nature instead of redeveloping them.
One striking example comes from Scotland, where a former golf course at the Plock of Kyle has been transformed into a rich natural area filled with wildflower meadows, wetlands and peat bogs, now home to species like otters and dragonflies.
Across the Atlantic, in California, the former San Geronimo Golf Course has been converted into a public nature reserve. Conservation efforts there have helped restore waterways and boost populations of endangered species like coho salmon.
These spaces are uniquely suited for restoration. Golf courses already contain open land, water features and varied terrain — meaning they can quickly become wildlife corridors and biodiversity hotspots once human intervention is reduced.
And the benefits go beyond nature. Many of these rewilded areas are reopened to the public as parks, offering communities access to green spaces while also improving climate resilience, water retention and local biodiversity.
What was once carefully manicured for sport is now being allowed to grow freely — showing that sometimes, the best way to restore nature is simply to step back and let it return.
