Blue Flag Status: what does it mean?

Blue Flag Status is awarded to beaches that excel in the fields of safety, cleanliness, provision of amenities and maintenance of environmental standards. This voluntary eco-label requires that beaches meet 27 criteria spanning four aspects of coastal management: water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management and safety and services. The status indicates that the beaches are clean, have adequate ablution facilities and parking, are environmentally sound, are safe and secure to visit and adhere to international safety and tourism standards.

The Blue Flag initiative was established in France in 1985 for their coastal municipalities. Since then the status has grown and there are now over 3450 Blue Flag beaches and marinas in 41 countries around the world. The Blue Flag programme works towards sustainable development worldwide and aims to create awareness for the public, decision-makers and tourist operators.

Cape Town currently has six Blue Flag Beaches: Bikini, Mnandi, Strandfontein, Muizenberg, Clifton 4th, and Camps Bay beaches. Big Bay Beach is also registered within the programme and is currently being managed as a pilot Blue Flag beach. As part of the ongoing assessment of Blue Flag beaches to ensure that the standards are being met, the flag has been temporarily withdrawn at Clifton 4th Beach to allow the City time to bring about improvements in the ablutions at the beach. The Wildlife & Environment Society of South Africa’s Blue Flag Programme Manager, Alison Kelly, notes that this is a normal management process which is used world-wide to keep standards at the high levels of excellence the Blue Flag programme requires. She says that this "gives an assurance to the public that the beaches are being actively monitored to ensure compliance."

Blue Flag Status is only granted for excellence in beach standards. Thus, says Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services, Councillor Gerhard Ras, "when the status is temporarily withdrawn on one of our beaches, it is not a negative reflection on or penalisation of the beach. Rather, it is a management tool for our municipality, allowing us to resolve issues that arise from time to time and then to shortly regain Blue Flag status on our beaches, which are some of the best in the world."

Beaches in Cape Town which do not carry the Blue Flag are still recognised as good beaches. The Blue Flag status serves as a monitoring tool to assist the City in maintaining already high standards. The Blue Flag criteria are extremely rigorous. If one element of the Blue Flag standard is found to be lacking during announced or unannounced checks, the status is temporarily withdrawn, pending a probationary period during which the issues can be resolved so that the beach meets full compliance with the international criteria.

In one such case, the City last week withdrew the Blue Flag status at Big Bay Beach to allow time to address the complex environmental management issues that have arisen at the beach. Councillor Ras pointed out that the City would "continue to provide and improve upon the safety and infrastructural services provided at the beach."

Councillor Ras advises the public not to regard Blue Flag status as a prerequisite for a good beach. "This is not the purpose of the Blue Flag," he says, "it is a maintenance measure of a particular set of requirements; if a beach does not meet these requirements, it does not mean it is not adequate."

http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/MediaReleases/Pages/BlueFlagStatuswhatdoesitmean.aspx

Posted at 09:01AM Jan 25, 2010 by Editor in Residential  |  Comments[1]