Shanghai has decided to place a strict limit on its number of golf courses and not to approve any new golf course projects in principle.
A municipal government official said that the decision was made to protect precious farmland and avoid environmental pollution.
Tuesday's Beijing Youth Daily reported that with the city's economic upsurge, 12 golf courses and a number of driving ranges have been built in Shanghai. They have played a positive role in attracting foreign investors and improving residents' lifestyles, but have also posed a major challenge to land resources and environmental protection.
One golf course usually covers about 60 to 70 hectares in Shanghai's suburbs, where farmland is scarce and valuable. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are needed to keep courses "green," which render cultivable farmland useless and pollute nearby rivers and underground water.
The Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau has drawn up a strict monitoring code, which stipulates that all sewage from golf courses must be purified, and bans herbicide use.
(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2002)
