Leadership / 03.21.19

IOC Director General Hails Release of Guide to Help New Sports Venues Minimize Impact on Nature

Access Staff

Inside the Games (03/13/19) Etchells, Daniel

International Olympic Committee (IOC) Director General Christophe De Kepper has praised a newly-released guide by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, designed to minimize the impact of new sports venues on nature and deliver conservation benefits. The second in an IOC-supported series, the guide verifies that poorly-designed sports venues that alter landscapes, disturb wildlife, and worsen pollution often have lingering environmental effects. Yet careful screening and attention to location and design can make new facilities and temporary infrastructures for sporting events less destructive, and even beneficial, to nature. "This guide is the first of its kind to provide detailed advice on how to consider nature in all stages of the development of sports venues," De Kepper stated. "It will help all those involved in venue development understand the potential impacts they can have on nature, and ensure that sporting events leave a lasting, positive legacy for local people and environment." The guide cites several case studies, including the Sydney 2000 Olympic Park, in which endangered green and golden bell frogs were discovered within the proposed site of the tennis venue. The venue was relocated to avoid ecological disruption, and more than $707,000 was spent to built a suitable habitat for the species by the start of the Sydney Olympics.

Read the full article on Inside the Games. 

Tags: Olympics , News , Venues