TROY, New York – Audubon International, the environmentally focused non-profit organization offering members numerous certifications and conservation initiatives to protect the areas where we all live, work, and play, reports that 2024 continued to see impressive growth in new certifications across all of its programs.
Most new certifications were awarded in the golf and lodging categories, while nearly 300 recertifications were also awarded to existing partners, some of whom have maintained their certifications dating back to the 1990s.
Programs include Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary (ACSP), ACSP for Golf, Green Lodging, Green Hospitality, Signature Sanctuary, and Sustainable Communities.
Each program provides third-party on-site verification of vetted, science-supported sustainable practices and benchmarks across all required categories. In the case of golf, that includes Environmental Planning, Wildlife and Habitat Management, Chemical Use Reduction and Safety, Water Conservation, Water Quality Management, and Outreach and Education.
“Once again, 2024 was a strong year for new certification growth across our suite of programs,” says Christine Kane, CEO. “We are particularly heartened and proud to see deeper interest in and pursuit of certification in our Green Lodging/Green Hospitality programs, which reflects the industry’s acknowledgement of sustainable best practices as a business and market response necessity.
Audubon International continues to lead the way helping golf courses, resorts, communities, and businesses of all kinds invest in a brighter future for the planet, and for all who coexist on it.”
While the ACSP for Golf continues as the organization’s flagship certification path with nearly 2,000 courses worldwide, Audubon International continues to build on its enhanced Signature Sanctuary Platinum level option for new projects–a comprehensive, overarching path that includes golf, lodging, other buildings and infrastructure.
Introduced in 2023, it added several high-profile travel industry leaders to its enrollment numbers in 2024, including the Cabot Collection. Meanwhile, newly certified Green Lodging Partners ran the gamut from urban hotels such as the Ritz-Carlton Denver to destination resorts such as St. Regis Bahia Beach in Puerto Rico, Keweenaw Mountain Lodge in Michigan, and Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri, whose golf courses are also well-established ACSP for Golf members.
Each year, Audubon International’s team of Environmental Specialists perform initial site visits at prospective certified properties as well as recertification visits across the country and internationally. They then provide point-by-point feedback based on each venue’s location, resources, budgets, and needs, help keep them on track through the process, and sign off on new certifications and recertifications once all criteria are met.
Timelines vary but can take up to a year or more. Once certified, each partner has powerful proof of their sustainability efforts to report to members, customers, managers, owners, and other stakeholders.
To learn more about how your local golf course, community, lodging property or resort can gain recognition for your environmental efforts or to learn how to expand your initiatives through Audubon International’s numerous environmental certifications, visit www.auduboninternational.org