While former President of the United States Donald Trump continues to hold events and find shelter at some of his many golf courses, there is one in Scotland that has been met with strong criticism for the way it has negatively impacted the environment and ruined a former conservation site.
Huck Magazine shares the story of Trump International Scotland golf course in Menie, Aberdeenshire. What makes the course notable is that it was built in a location that was once considered a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a designation given to places around the world “of particular interest to science due to the rare species of fauna or flora it contains – or even important geological or physiological features that may lie in its boundaries.” Another example of an SSSI is the Amazon rainforest. So the notion that a golf course would be built there was once considered unthinkable.
However, despite the fact that the local council rejected Trump’s plans for a golf course there, the decision was overturned by a local politician. In a common refrain, the course was said to be an economic boon for the region that would “substantially outweigh any environmental impact.”
Sadly, the 18-hole golf course has since become a “money hemorrhaging scar on the former natural beauty hotspot.”
Accounts for the Trump family’s Menie Estate course reported a £696,000 loss in 2021, which followed a £1.3 million loss the year prior.
The damage caused by the construction of the course also led to the region being stripped of its conservation status.
According to the article, which chronicles the efforts by Alicia Bruce to photograph the impact and damage of the course to the region, employees of the course have harassed several locals, some of whom have been arrested on what would later be called trumped-up charges.
[Huck]
