Travel diary #1: Terry in South Africa

In October 2019, Terry the Turtle, Blue Flag’s #turtlewithoutborders, started a trip around the world to Blue Flag destinations, beginning with South Africa. Boats, marinas and beaches were all top priorities on Terry’s to-do list.

Terry is not an everyday turtle. Terry has been handmade by Moses Rombayi, a South African doll-maker coming from Zimbabwe. Moses’ love for toys guided its desire to own its business and create a unique kind of handmade dolls: thanks to him, an original Blue Flag flag became an amazing turtle!

Follow Blue Flag South Africa Instagram account (@blueflagsouthafrica) and Blue Flag International account (@blueflag_global) to discover Terry’s actions to preserve the beauty of our beaches and oceans.

Blue Flag National Operator in South Africa, WESSA, managed to show Terry as many as it could. Among all of South Africa’s Blue Flag sites, Terry saw:

• Llandudno Beach in Cape Town, where Terry checked out litter conditions and cleanliness

• Muizenberg beach - Terry accompanied the Blue Flag team on a beach inspection and took part in Surf Emporium’s Adaptive Surfing Day for children with disabilities

• Apex Predator - Terry went aboard the Great White Shark Tours boat in Gansbaai

• False Bay Yacht Club Marina, where Terry approved of the immaculately clean marina as well as the organised recycling bins

• V&A Waterfront Marina hosted Terry and the WESSA team for this year’s Blue Flag launch. The rest of the WESSA team in South Africa had the pleasure of meeting Terry on this day

• Dyer Island Conservation Trust, where Terry and the team met two ocean conservationists in Gansbaai and saw more shark tour boats

• Two Oceans Aquarium allowed Terry to see how fellow marine friends inspire people to protect the oceans

• Learn to Earn charity - old flags from previous seasons were donated for their sewing courses and Terry came along to see the recycling action

• Boulders Beach and its penguins welcomed Terry while touring the Cape Peninsula

• Jeffrey’s Bay Recycling Project, where Terry helped sort out the trash and show how important waste reduction and recycling are

Time will tell which country Terry will visit next!

Baja California Sur states the restriction of use of plastics

The Mexican state takes great steps to abandon the culture of plastic to protect the world’s aquarium

This August, Baja California Sur (BCS) took measures to preserve and protect its marine biodiversity. The latter is key to success of the state’s tourism industry since this Mexican state counts 20 beaches and a marina awarded with Blue Flag.

This initiative was supported by the Government of Baja California Sur along with the City Councils of La Paz, Los Cabos, Comondú, Loreto and Mulegé. The statement concerns the restriction of use of plastic bags, straws and Styrofoam containers in supermarkets, restaurants, self-service stores, pharmacies, as well as for purposes of wrapping or moving food and drinks. The state aims to end up the use of all these materials by 2021.

“Baja California Sur is taking great steps to abandon the culture of plastic, we treasure our natural heritage, so we will not hesitate to protect it,” said Luis Araiza, the head of the Secretary of Tourism, Economy and Sustainability (SETUES) of BCS.”

More than just prohibiting the use of plastics, the announcement aims for raising public awareness about this issue to preserve oceans from pollution. Baja California Sur is the first Mexican state to sign the UN Environment global campaign “Mares Limpios” (“Clean Seas”) along with 57 countries.

“Today BCS is a reference in Mexico according to environmental matters. We want our children and their future generations to breathe fresh air and have transparent seas full of fish, it is their right and it is our obligation”, said Araiza López.”

SETUES provide talks about environmental care and conservation to children from elementary schools. Recently, Governor Carlos Mendoza also launched the “Sin Plastico Challenge (“Without plastic challenge”) in order to impulse good practices that could help to reduce climate change. Moreover, 7 000 plants have been delivered to reforest the state thanks to the “Sembremos un Mejor Futuro” (“Sow a better future”) programme.

“Baja California Sur is a destination that strives, grows and lives up to the circumstances that prevail in the international tourism market and that includes the formal commitment to the environment,” said Luis Humberto Araiza.”

As tourism industry is the main economic driving force of the state, the latter wants to contributes to the spreading of environmentally-friendly practices preserving the area and its biodiversity. The Government definitely strives to keep our seas full of fishes, not plastics.