Monina Gilbey from Glenelg Golf Club has won a major environmental award for her work in the area of biodiversity at the South Australian club. It is the first time that golf has been mentioned in the Parks Leisure Australia (PLA) awards for SA and the Northern Territory. Gilbey, who won the Environmental Steward Award, now moves on to the national final in Brisbane in October. The award was for “organisations, groups, or individuals, that are taking action to protect or enhance the environment or are increasing understanding of environmental issues within their community”. Gilbey is the Biodiversity Manager at Glenelg, where huge amounts of work have been done to introduce native flora and fauna in recent years, with the club winning numerous awards. She is regarded as a leader in the field and has worked tirelessly to change the misconception that golf is bad for the environment. Achievements include: - Reintroduction of freshwater fish on water courses. -Working with a local men’s shed group to build boxes for broken tees, preventing plastic from finding its way into water courses. -Introduction of indigenous food in the clubhouse. -Introduction of a Green Adelaide Grassroots project with other clubs, with indigenous plants including vulnerable natives fostered -Habitat planting to bring back butterflies and rewild a near-extinct butterfly, the Yellowish Sedge Skipper, on golf courses. -Surveys including microbats, birds and invertebrates -Rescue of caterpillars -Establishment of a kitchen garden to reduce the use of plastic wraps. The award was presented in Adelaide last week. Watch some of the work done by Monina at Glenelg courtesy of Syngenta.