Preserving biodiversity

Opio-Valbonne offers a whole bunch of micro-climates. Direct sun is not present everywhere and that makes it a demanding course to maintain. This type of layout requires very particular attention to air circulation. We must not neglect the maintenance of the forest and a selection of subjects to be deforested to promote this circulation of air and light in the play areas. In the process, everything that is cut is crushed and thrown back on place, which enriches the soil. However, logs that are too large are not evacuated. We use them to build wooden walls on the course. I even created a snake-style one along the 11th. The golfers didn’t understand the idea, they had the impression that we were wasting wood and some even left with one or two logs under their arm… However, this This type of wall is not only valuable for the place but they are also ideal insect niches. This is also why we preserved the stumps of dead olive trees in the 17th. This seemed to us as much aesthetic as a relevant way to bear witness to the past of the place which was an ancient olive grove. Not to mention that we further preserve the biodiversity of the site with these natural nest boxes.

The departure of the 18th is another good example of the constant dialogue we have with nature. The starting platforms are synthetic on this par 3 to preserve the trees that surround them. A traditional departure would have required us to open up the forest and therefore concretely cut down certain trees. But the overall atmosphere of the place would have been completely distorted. This choice of a synthetic departure is therefore linked to our desire not to destroy the place for the benefit of the course.