Story at a glance:
- Former President Trump’s golf course in northeast Scotland has damaged ecologically sensitive sand dunes, before and after pictures show.
- A third of the Foveran Links has been partially destroyed on the south side.
- The global campaign group called Avaaz has filed legal action against the Scottish government for its refusal to investigate the source of Trump’s wealth.
Former President Trump’s golf course in northeast Scotland has damaged ecologically sensitive sand dunes, before and after pictures show, according to Business Insider.
In 2006, Trump bought Aberdeenshire land to build “the world’s best golf course.” With help from Scotland’s then-first minister, Alex Salmond, Trump managed to brush off conservationists and local opposition – who predicted how the Trump International Golf Links would affect the dunes.
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In 2008, Trump was warned again that his 18-hole course would destroy the sand dunes around it. However, the former president was determined, saying, “We will stabilize the dunes. They will be there forever. This will be environmentally better after it [the course] is built than it is before.”
Using satellite technology before-and-after photos from a firm called Maxar, the Insider article highlights the Foveran Links sand dunes between March 2010 and April 2021.
A side-by-side comparison shows that a third of the Foveran Links has been partially destroyed on the south side.
The satellite technology provides an argument that Trump International Golf Course on Menie Estate could lose its status as a nationally important protected wildlife site, after consideration of the scientific evidence by NatureScot.
“The denotification of SSSIs [Site of Special Scientific Interest] is unusual, however in this case we have found there is no longer a reason to protect the dunes at Menie as they do not include enough of the special, natural features for which they were designated,” Sally Thomas, NatureScot’s Director of People & Nature, said.
The global campaign group Avaaz has filed legal action against the Scottish government for its refusal to investigate the source of Trump’s wealth and how he was managing to lose $315 million from his golf businesses. The construction money was sourced through loans that were not hedged, Insider reported.
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