Developments
GEO Certified Development 08/2016
During my initial site visit, I found that ECP/Fiori, true to its vision of improving the local habitat, intended to regenerate the local environment long before IOC's decision and had started to implement a research programme, focused on native plant propagation, and to grow a local nursery with the species collected from local seeds.
Alexandra Betâmio de Almeida, Independent Verifier - Rio Olympic Golf Course, Rio de Janeiro
After more than a century of absence, the Rio Olympic Golf Course set the scene for the return of golf to the Olympic arena. Fiori Empreendimentos Imobiliários Ltda. and ECP Environmental Solutions, were responsible for the inception, management and funding of the project formally enrolled the Rio Olympic Golf Course in the OnCourse Developments programme on April 2013.
Moreover, the Rio Olympic Golf Course is part of a new urban area included in the Rio 2016 Olympic Park master plan, which assumed sustainability at its core by increasing the inclusion of the community, the provision of residential, commercial and recreational areas, while regenerating environmentally damaged zones.
The Rio Olympic Golf Course is located in the south west area of Rio de Janeiro in the neighbourhood of Barra da Tijuca along the Marapendi Lagoon. The project covers approximately 97 hectares and is comprised of an 18- hole championship golf course, and a practice area. Other elements include a clubhouse, the Golf Academy, a maintenance facility and a parking lot.
Prior to the development of the golf course over 80% project area consisted of degraded land due to sand mining in the mid 1980-90’s. Furthermore, the need for an Olympic golf venue postulated the opportunity to remediate the area and create a space that could provide social, environmental and economic benefits to residents and visitors alike.
This project represents a great achievement for ECP and the rest of the project team, executed under tight deadlines and challenging circumstances. All involved in its realization should be proud of the transformation of this once degraded and threatened site into a public golf facility that will be professionally and actively managed for nature conservation, local community recreation, education, and sports development by a non-profit sports body in collaboration with other local stakeholders, and guided by a robust long-term environmental management plan.
Sam Thomas, Director of Golf Developments for GEO Foundation
