New Blue Flag "ambassador" project in South Africa to employ 200 community members in 2016

In 2016, Blue Flag South Africa will be partnering with the South African National Department of Tourism on a three year project which will focus on improving services and adherence to the Blue Flag criteria at all certified beaches in South Africa. This will be done by employing 200 community members from low income households throughout South Africa.

These Blue Flag beach “ambassadors” will undergo training in environmental management, safety and environmental education and be stationed at all beaches to ensure that the beach users get a true Blue Flag experience. The project will be managed by the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA), who are members of Blue Flag International since 2001. The project intends to not only maintain excellent standards at the existing sites but also to identify new beaches which could qualify for Blue Flag status in the future and assist these municipalities with adequate marketing, promotion and infrastructural support.

Blue Flag International and Blue Flag South Africa are both very proud and excited by this wonderful opportunity to partner with the national government and to contribute to the social upliftment of local communities. 

Grotto Beach, South Africa

New FEE member: Keep New Zealand Beautiful to run Blue Flag

New FEE member: Keep New Zealand Beautiful to run Blue Flag

Award ceremony in Westhaven Marina

In January, Daniel Schaffer visited New Zealand to meet our new FEE member : Keep New Zealand Beautiful. This organisation will very soon take over the Blue Flag programme, and is currently implementing processes in order to do so. During Daniel’s visit, he and Keep New Zealand Beautiful staff conducted control visits of two Blue Flag awarded marinas, Westhaven Marina and The Landing.
 
Currently New Zealand have two Auckland Marinas that hold Blue Flag status. Westhaven Marina is the largest marina in the southern hemisphere with more than 2000 boats of all kinds. The marina takes pride in upholding a clean environment and has successfully achieved international Blue Flag status for the tenth consecutive year! 
The Landing at Okahu Bay is a dedicated marine based site at the entrance to the Hauraki Gulf with facilities that include a public boat ramp and pontoon and boat hardstand, maintenance and storage. The Landing has held Blue Flag status for 5 years. 
 
Daniel was able to offer to Keep New Zealand Beautiful staff his vast experience and expertise in conducting a Blue Flag control visit and it was also a fantastic opportunity for the staff at both Marinas to meet with an international FEE representative.
 
With the support of Blue Flag International, Keep New Zealand Beautiful is aiming to grow the Blue Flag programme further to include Sustainable Boating Tourism Operators in New Zealand as well as increasing the number of marinas with Blue Flag status.

Award ceremony in The Landing marina

Blue Flag's achievements honoured at award ceremony in St. Maarten

St. Maarten’s National Operator, Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC), held its annual Blue Flag award ceremony in December 2015. Both Divi Little Bay Beach Resort and Yacht Club Isle de Sol, the event host, received the award for the fifth time, demonstrating a long-term commitment in their role as leaders in sustainable tourism. 

The Blue Flag award ceremony at Yacht Club Isle de Sol

Mr. Ricardo Perez, Executive Board Member of the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA), spoke of his organisation’s continued commitment to supporting responsible tourism and its value in strengthening the island’s economy over the long-term. Minister Ingrid Arrindell of the Ministry of Tourism and Economic Affairs then awarded the Blue Flag to the recipients, congratulating them on this significant achievement.  Minister Arrindell also expressed her concern for protecting our coastal areas, described as St. Maarten’s environmental and economic treasure.

Some of the accomplishments outlined by the recipients included their educational programmes, such as Isle de Sol’s mangrove planting and trash cleanup or Divi’s Bird Walk and kid’s Easter Egg snorkel. Divi has also installed an extensive solar panel system to reduce their carbon footprint while Isle de Sol has expanded their recycling programme.

Participants in a free public Bird Walk hosted by Blue Flag site Divi Little Bay Beach Resort

EPIC President, Natalia Collier, noted “The Blue Flag programme is successful thanks to the efforts of our many partners, including the awarded sites, the Tourist Bureau, the SHTA, and the American University of the Caribbean which contributes water quality analysis.”

Paris Nautic show & COP21

Blue Flag International was at the Nautic show in Paris, to network with existing and potential new partners, as the criteria for sustainable boating tourism operators are being launched very soon in 2016. Meanwhile, the Foundation for Environmental Education was participating in COP21 conferences, discussing climate change as part of the curriculum.

 

Picture Le Telegramme: Jean-Michel Gaigné, Blue Flag International jury member representing ICOMIA, met with Sophie Bachet Granados, Blue Flag International Director and Daniel Schaffer, FEE CEO.

Source: article in french here

Blue Flag part of the OPERAs userboard

The OPERAs project, funded by the EU, is about moving away from what is fundamentally an academic concept (ecosystem services) towards practice. To this end the project brings together science, policy and practice communities through the development of tools, methods, instruments, data, best practice guidelines, examples, training, educational materials, services, events and other means. Complementing this, the OPERAs project is testing the different approaches in defined areas. Most importantly, all of this should be developed together with, and for a community of practice.
 
Blue Flag International has been taking part in the OPERAs project in the past three years, and provides a user point of view towards marine environment and environmental education. This year, Johann Durand, Blue Flag International Assistant, attended the third OPERAs userboard meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, to bring Blue Flag's expertise to the userboard.

Picture Credit: Caterina Amengual

Blue Flag seminars in Cabo Verde

The School of Health and Social Services of the Canary Islands (known as ESSSCAN in Spanish), the Civil Protection National Service of Cape Verde (SNPC) and the Chamber of Tourism of Cape Verde, have been developing joint actions in both regions since 2011, as part of the Transnational Cooperation project known as Euro-African Network of Health Emergency - REACT.

This project aims to increase the efficiency of the health care workers, improve the substandard health conditions and the access to health quality systems, to create spaces for the exchange of experiences and to develop a prevention transnational programme, as well as to contribute actively to actions that foster the security of the tourist destination. During the last four work years, they have reached the conclusion that the Security and the Quality are fundamental pillars where they have to continue working in, in Cape Verde, specifically in the islands with an important flow of tourists, as is the case of the Isla de Sal and Saõ Vicente, in order to promote the sustainable development of the coastlines.

In this sense, they consider the implementation of the Blue Flag raises the sustainable development in these areas, through the requirement of high standards in the quality of the bathing water, the security, the environmental and information management and the education for the sustainability.

From the School of Health and Social Services of the Canary Islands, Blue Flag International has beeb invited to participate in two activities taking place in Cabo Verde from the 10th to the 17th of November, last month. During those days, they offered to give two talks aimed at the municipal authorities from Cape Verde, managers from the tourist sector, healthcare technicians, among others, in order to get to understand the importance of keeping Quality and Security standards in their beaches, and which are de procedures that should be taken to get the Blue Flag there.

Catarina Goncalves and Fatima Viera from ABAE, the FEE national organisation in Portugal, presented, on behalf of Blue Flag International, the Foundation for Environmental Education and the Blue Flag programme at several seminars in Cabo Verde!

We are thrilled to know that the interest towards the FEE programmes and especially Blue Flag programme is rising there.

We gladly thank our two colleagues for their great involvement during a busy month in Portugal and of course all the stakeholders involved in Cabo Verde (The Office for the Tourism of Cabo Verde, Civil Protection National Service, Regional Directorate for Tourism and Maritime Agency,...).

We wish the best to the organisations in Cabo Verde and we will keep working closely with them to hopefully enter in a process of welcoming Cabo Verde within the FEE countries in a near future!

Blue Flag at the World Cetacean Alliance conference

Blue Flag International was invited by World Cetacean Alliance (WCA) to present its programme, namely the new criteria for sustainable boating tourism operators, at its annual conference, in the Azores. Following the conference was a workshop about maintaining the highest standards of responsible whale and dolphin watching, which is an important mission for WCA and Blue Flag.

We wish to thank WCA for inviting us to the conference, as well as ADEAC, the Spanish Blue Flag National Operator for attending on behalf of Blue Flag International.

Picture: WCA

Blue Flag in Japan

Sophie Bachet Granados, Blue Flag International Director, was one of the key-speakers at the Blue Flag conference in Kamakura, Japan. Both municipalities, Kamakura and Takahama, working hard to obtain the eco-label for the first time in Japan were present, and shared valuable information, leading to great discussions. 

The next day a beach clean-up was organised by Shonan-Vision, followed by some environmental education activity by FEE Japan and Blue Flag International.  A great experience for our teams in Kamakura and Takahama, who with their hard work will hopefully be the first Asian sites to be awarded with the Blue Flag in 2016! Keep up the good work!

The Mayor of Kamakura, in Japan received the Blue Flag National Operator for Japan, Shoko Itoh and the Blue Flag International Director, Sophie Bachet Granados, to discuss strategy and vision for the future. It is a great step which the Mayor has committed to last year, and all his teams as well as the other stakeholders are working hard towards complying with all International standards for July 2016.

Blue Flag National Operator Meeting 2015

Each year, all Blue Flag National Operators from the network meet to discuss and exchange about the technicalities of the programme, the strategy, best practices and other issues. This 2015 edition took place in the Municipality of Goeree Overflakkee, in the Netherlands.

Over 40 participants attended the meeting, and enjoyed the Dutch region after a two-day meeting. The focus this year was on the newest Blue Flag development: awarding the sustainable boating tourism operators, as a means to take further action in the marine sustainability. Environmental actions such as the two minutes beach clean up were presented, and many countries brought to the table their best national expertise to inspire others.
We wish to thank the Blue Flag National Operator, Stichting KMVK, and the municipality of Goeree Overflakkee for the warm welcome and fantastic venue!

Picture Credit: Municipality of Goere-Overflakkee - The Netherlands

Blue Flag's 30th anniversary in France

Born from a French idea in 1985, Blue Flag turned 30 this year in its mother country!

It is with great pride that our French municipalities came to this special anniversary event,  to receive their flag and to exchange ideas amongst each other.

The municipality of St Nazaire, receiving Blue Flag for the first time, was hosting the event which included a discussion panel with experts and partners of Blue Flag France: Eco Maires, Fédération Francaise des Ports de Plaisance, Ligue de Protection des Oiseaux PACA, Villes de France, Eco-emballages. Jan Eriksen, FEE President, as well as Sophie Bachet Granados, Blue Flag Internationa Director, were also part of this discussion panel.

"I was there when the Blue Flag was created, and I am very glad I could be here today, to this special 30th anniversary of Blue Flag in France. To have witnessed the birth of this international programme and the development  throughout these past thirty years is one of the many reasons I believe that the Foundation for Environmental Education brings a real change to our world." says Jan Eriksen, whilst addressing the assembly.

"Today I am proud of what France has achieved in the past 30 years, and the tremendous work the French Blue Flag team has done to get there. It is important we know our past, so that our roots are deep in the ground, feeding on our huge experience. This enables our head to reach high in the sky, above and beyond what we know and imagine. Blue Flag has 30 years of experience, and thanks to all those working with us, Blue Flag has a bright future ahead, with many more exciting challenges." adds Sophie.

Increasing quality of Blue Flag sites worldwide acknowledged by International Jury

More than 4000 sites were awarded the world’s leading eco-label for the 2015 season by the Blue Flag International Jury on 9 April in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The full list of awarded sites will be published on the international Blue Flag website on May 20th, where the users will also find detailed information about the services or facilities for disabled people, amongst other things.

“The International Jury was very impressed with the work done by the Blue Flag National Operators and the beach and marina managers. Our numbers are steadily growing, whilst the quality of the sites remains our priority. We are always striving towards excellence, which is why we are currently pilot-testing a set of 38 new criteria for Blue Flag marinas, which should be added to the 2016 criteria. This is a way to always motivate our sites to continue their hard work, even if some of them have been in the programme for 30 years! Indeed, this year our French FEE member is celebrating 30 years of Blue Flag, since the project originated from this country in 1985”, says Sophie Bachet Granados, Blue Flag International Director.

“We also have many other projects in the pipelines, and amongst them the launch of criteria for eco-tourism boats,” she adds. “This has been a huge project which has started three years ago, when I visited Iceland and met with our National Operator (Landvernd) there, as well as one of our Blue Flag whale-watching boats company, Elding. I realised that Blue Flag could and should do much more than ask the companies to sign a code of conduct to fly the flag on their boat, so we started to work on a set of criteria, on the same basis as the beaches or marinas awards. We are now including a whole variety of eco-tourism activities which have direct impact on the coastal environment and marine life. It is a very exciting project, and Blue Flag will proudly take this new step soon, once we have finalised the pilot-testing this summer”, she concludes.

The next meeting of the Blue Flag International Jury will take place in September to award beaches and marinas from the Caribbean, South America, Africa and southwest Pacific.

Blue Flag International is currently working on its website and tools, which will be totally redesigned within the coming months, for better internal and external use.

Additionally, Blue Flag International has in 2015 signed a five year agreement with its flag provider, Semaphore. All flags are produced according to strict environmental rules, and their confection as well as transport is CO2 neutral.

The International Blue Flag Jury is composed of representatives from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), International Lifesaving Federation (ILS), the European Environment Agency (EEA), the European Union for Coastal Conservation (EUCC), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an Environmental Education expert, the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA) and FEE.

The Blue Flag also greatly appreciates the support of its sponsor, Semaphore.

Connected Eco Labels for Chinese water recreation and tourism sector

Rising living standard costs limited nature resource - an increasing pressure and crisis worldwide.

Boating is an ancient green lifestyle and traffic tool for more balanced development on land and on water.

In China and Asia, versus luxurious living trends, environmental-friendly leisure boating and eco tourism are receiving more and more consciousness and market attention.

At the occasion of the 20th China International Boatshow and CTIBA (China Boat Industry & Trade Association) International Forum on Yacht and Waterfront Leisure Industry Development in Shanghai on 10th April 2015, FEE’s Blue Flag and Green Key were introduced by Xiaoying Liu, an environmental planning expert and architect, Natureherit Design & Consult, The Netherlands. Researching environmental-friendly leisure boating and eco tourism implementation plans at Chinese Taihu Lake (Suzhou), she identifies the two FEE eco labels as potential effective catalyzers to initiate pilot cruising areas and amphibian healthy environment for people and nature.

According to Liu, marinas and beaches are often linked to restaurants, hotels and meeting facilities, especially in China and Asia. With integrated requirement of surrounding environment and management, the two labels are of high potential operations to jointly combat water-environmental crisis and challenges.  

She also says, as China is one of the oldest water cultures, it is high time to develop waterfront and boating regions priotizing environmental-friendly interactions. China is already an important global yacht producer (incl. clean energy boats) and have increasing yachting marina locations. However, Chinese coastal and river regions need connected and versatile cruising system as a water-eco-people “working system” to combat smog, climate change and biodiversity challenges. Transformations of Chinese policy and green governance are on the way, such as “Ecological Civilization”, “One Belt, One Road” and innovative PPP project modes.

Blue Flag programme for beaches and marinas have been set up in 49 countries with success. It could be a great help for Chinese leisure boating industry to transform the developing questions (such as environmental information, planning coordination, boating and cruising technology) into pleasant environmental recovery tools. More routing possibilities are needed. Cruising safety, management and environmental education should come more together to re-establish natural environment for cruising and living. There are new challenges to coordinate between governmental departments, but this green economy will worth the efforts.

Besides the individualization of yacht players, big opportunities are also in water sport and sailing schools with small-scaled harbors, with increasing needs for physical health, recovery and spiritual training for young people. With flexible location and low impact to water quality, some sport marinas showed big interests in the forum to be the first Blue Flag pilots.

In China, tourism development has increased drastically with rising living standard. Tourist facilities from hotel to camping and restaurants are searching value-adding brands and programs, for which Green Key programme could be the great help to stimulate environmental programs and interact with facilities in other 47 countries.  

Ms. Liu suggests Blue Flag and Green Key to be introduced jointly to Chinese authorities and boating sectors. It will help Chinese venues to exchange environmental knowledge and programs with others abroad and existing FEE eco labels in China: Eco School and Young Reporters for the Environment are run by the FEE official operator China, CEEC of Ministry of Environmental Protection. The needed feasibility study, roundtable process and pilots are interesting challenges for improving the coastal and river region environment,such as Taihu Basin-Yangtze River Delta (Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou etc.), Pearl River Delta (Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai), Xiamen, Qingdao, Hainan, Tianjin, Chongqing and Dalian Region.

Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association signs a Memorandum of Understanding with FEE

Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) recognises and supports the Blue Flag and Green Key programmes of the Foundation for Environmental Education.

CHTA and the Foundation for Environmental Education have signed a Memorandum of Understanding recognising FEE’s Green Key and Blue Flag programmes in the Caribbean as well as CHTA’s sustainability initiatives. The document was signed on 29 January 2015 during the Caribbean Travel Marketplace. The Memorandum of Understanding between CHTA and FEE has been entered to recognise the hospitality and tourism sustainability initiatives in the Caribbean brought forward by FEE through the Green Key and Blue Flag programmes and by CHTA through the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST) and programmes such as the Caribbean Hotel Energy Efficient Action (CHENACT) programme. 

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The Memorandum of Understanding provides a framework of cooperation with a view to contributing to more effective attainment of common objectives of both CHTA and FEE. Both organisations have agreed to a long-term cooperative relationship for the purpose of identifying and developing programmes and activities such as the Blue Flag and Green Key programmes as well as the initiatives developed by CHTA and CAST to attain common objectives on sustainable tourism and environmental education. This will include joint projects and activities on a regional level as well as local destination levels across the Caribbean. 

The Memorandum of Understanding recognises CAST as the main resource for Caribbean enterprises to obtain training, education and implementation guidance of sustainable tourism best practises specific to the Caribbean region with the following three strategic focus areas: advocacy, environmental management and sustainable tourism support. As part of the agreement, CHTA recognises FEE and its programmes for inclusion in its sustainable tourism initiatives such as the Blue Flag programme for beaches and marinas and the Green Key programmes for hotels and other tourism facilities. The agreement will also be used to identify future cooperation between the two organisations promoting sustainable tourism projects and raising environmental awareness. 

“By signing this cooperative agreement with FEE, CHTA reaffirms its commitment to sustainable development”, said Emil Lee, President of CHTA. “Certainly protecting our environment and being a responsible industry are important reasons to support sustainable development”, he said, adding: “However, there are even more profound reasons to integrate green policies into everything we do. The Caribbean is our home. Additionally, being efficient is good for our environment, but being efficient is also good for profitability, which translates into stronger economies, better infrastructure and more jobs. The partnership gives CHTA members an excellent road map for our members to follow. We welcome cooperation with an organisation like FEE with its programmes to further strengthen the sustainability agenda in the tourism and hospitality sector in the Caribbean region.”

Jan Eriksen, President of FEE, adds: “We already have a history of successful cooperation with CHTA/CAST in connection with the implementation of the Blue Flag programme in the Caribbean starting 15 years ago and we are happy now to formalise it and extend it to also include our fast growing Green Key programme.”

Semaphore – Blue Flag’s new flag producer

After a call for tender was launched in June 2014 Semaphore has been chosen to produce our flags for the next five-year period.

A strong environmentally-friendly policy and a high level of customer service convinced the committee in charge of finding a flag producer to choose Semaphore as Blue Flag’s new partner.

          Semaphore team : from left to right Coerd, Mariska, Sherry, Martine, Paul and Jaap

All flags are exclusively produced in the EU and fully comply with the EU directive on eco-textiles. Furthermore, Semaphore will compensate the CO2emissions which are produced during production and transportation of the flags through FEE’s Global Forest Fund.

The national operators will now have the possibility to choose between two different flag materials for their sites. They can either choose the regular fabric or a new one, which is more resistant and therefore particularly suitable for sites with heavy weather conditions, or long seasons.

Blue Flag National Operator Meeting 2014

To conclude 2014, Blue Flag National Operator Meeting took place in Chania, Greece from 16th to 17th October. 45 Blue Flag National Operators from 40 countries as well as Blue Flag International representatives, Daniel Schaffer (FEE Chief Executive Officer), Lourdes Diaz (FEE board member) and Blue Flag partners attended the stimulating and productive meeting.

This year, the NOM was organised by the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature (FEE member organisation) which put a lot of effort into creating a professional and constructive atmosphere while also giving the participants the chance to experience Greek hospitality and culture. The agenda was filled with many new and exciting developments and updates from Blue Flag International, the national operators and the Blue Flag working parties.

Two new countries (Estonia and Trinidad & Tobago) joined the Blue Flag programme in 2014 and were therefore warmly welcomed to their first National Operator Meeting (NOM). It was also announced that Japan and Mauritius have started to implement Blue Flag. Another important change in 2014 was the new cooperation between Blue Flag International and the flag producerSemaphore, which will start at the beginning of 2015. Semaphore’s representatives gave an overview of their products and their history. (Read more about Semaphore)

Other topics that were discussed during the first day of this year’s NOM were: the bathing water quality criteria, the FEE Environmental Education Principles, the changes to a new website in the coming year and the progress towards including more criteria for the beaches and marinas. Moreover, it has been announced that Blue Flag will also be part of the impact assessment FEE plans in the coming years in order to get information about the global and local effects of its programmes.

The second day of the NOM was dedicated to worldwide best-practices exchange. The national operators had the opportunity to present their best-practices and to be inspired by other countries’ success stories.

A best-practice example which has been presented and which deserves special recognition is the cooperation of Blue Flag Puerto Rico with the Puerto Rican Department of Youth Correction. The idea behind this cooperation is to engage adolescents with difficult social backgrounds in environmental activities in order to help them learn how to respect others and their environment. The project was initiated in 2013 and further extended in 2014. In the first year, the adolescents took part in environmental workshops at the correction facilities and participated in cleanups after St. John’s Eve, which draws many people to the beaches every year and fills them with massive amounts of litter. In the second year the project also included the rescue of leatherback turtles which nest on Puerto Rican coasts. The adolescents helped the nestlings to find their way into the water, an act which to a certain extent was an echo of their own lives. Maria Elena Garcia, Blue Flag national operator from Puerto Rico, highlighted the enthusiasm shown by the young people during the project and the potential this kind of cooperation might have in the future.

Part of the best-practice exchange was also the presentation of the Corona project pilot phase, which was the driving force for many successful beach cleanups and environmental projects in the participating countries. (Read more about Corona here)

Like every year, the Blue Flag NOM was a successful platform to roll out old issues, to exchange new ideas and to strengthen the network, which is the basis of Blue Flag’s successes.

Blue Flag International Jury 2014/2015 - Blue Flag First for Trinidad and Tobago!

More than 150 sites were awarded the Blue Flag, the world’s leading eco-label, for the 2014 season. Awards were made in the Caribbean, South America, Africa and in the Southwest Pacific by the Blue Flag International Jury on 16 September 2014.

The award is given by the Blue Flag International Jury which meets twice a year (Northern hemisphere and Southern hemisphere bathing seasons) and consists of environmental specialists, as well as members of life-saving and coastal conservation organisations. This year, the International Jury was pleased to welcome a new country Trinidad and Tobago, and to award its first Blue Flag site.

                                                   Las Cuevas beach - Trinidad and Tobago

Sophie Bachet Granados, Blue Flag International Director said: “Trinidad and Tobago has done a lot of work since they started working on the implementation of the Blue Flag programme. Las Cuevas beach is the first fully compliant site in Trinidad, and I am sure, an example for all future sites in Trinidad and Tobago. We are looking forward to seeing the programme develop in the country, as I know new sites are already working to reach full compliance for their next jury in September 2015.”

Increasing numbers of awards and the quality of Blue Flag sites is really positive news, especially for those who love sunbathing, swimming or sailing. “More Blue Flag sites available for the public worldwide means more safety and services, and especially more environmental management, information and education. This is crucial as we need to ensure that the public understands the environment and what they can do to protect it,” Sophie Bachet Granados added.

The full list of awarded sites will be published on 1 November 2014 on theinternational Blue Flag website  where users can also find detailed information about services and facilities for disabled people. 

The next meeting of the Blue Flag International Jury will take place on 9 April 2015 to award beaches and marinas with a Northern hemisphere bathing season type (from May to December 2015).

The International Blue Flag Jury is composed of representatives from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), International Lifesaving Federation (ILS), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an Environmental Education expert, the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA) and FEE.

Blue Flag International also greatly appreciates the support of its sponsors: Faber Flags and Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Biodiversity key to marine protection, says meeting of Blue Flag operators

Blue Flag national operators met in Tenby, Wales, at the end of October to share their work and discuss the growth and strategy of the programme moving forward.

An important topic for representatives from 46 countries worldwide was the need to increase awareness of marine protected areas and biodiversity that is important for healthy living as well as tourism. This was supported by Anthony Rogers, Biodiversity Officer for Pembrokeshire, one of the hosts of the meeting.

Sophie Bachet, the International Blue Flag Programme Director, also shared successes and developments over the past year. She said: “These meetings are very important for exchangingexperience andinspiringolder as well as new countries. The Blue Flag network is now the biggest, as well as oldest, eco-label in the world for beaches and marinas, with more than 45 countries running the programme.”

She added: “The latest country to have fully implemented Blue Flag is Serbia and Aruba, Israel, Mexico and Mauritius are piloting the programme.”

Another important topic of the meeting was the need for disabled facilities on Blue Flag beaches to be more detailed and specific. “We would like to consult and cooperate with an international organisation for disabled people to ensure their needs are part of our criteria,” said Sophie Bachet.

Among other topics, a public survey about the Blue Flag was also discussed, as was how to improve the Blue Flag smart phone application. The National Operators Meeting in Wales was hosted by the FEEmember organisationKeep Wales Tidy and the Welsh Government.

The famous Hollywood actor Michael Sheen, Keep Wales Tidy's ambassador, sent a warm welcome video to all Blue Flag National Operators for Blue Flag's 25th anniversary:

IUCN workshop in Copenhagen

Experts met in Copenhagen to discuss the Marine Protected Areas and how to ensure their better management.

An international IUCN workshop was held in Copenhagen on 24-26 April regarding Marine Protected Areas and their management.

Experts from different parts of the world met to discuss this issue and look at possibilities to better ensure good management in these areas.

Following this workshop, a meeting was held with FEE ( Malcolm Powell), Blue Flag (Sophie Bachet) and IUCN to work on integrating Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) better in the Blue Flag criteria and explanatory notes. By working more closely together, we wish to ensure that the MPAs near/in a Blue Flag area are well monitored.

Blue Flag (FEE) and IUCN are also considering entering a closer relationship in the future.

The report of the IUCN workshop is available upon request to the international coordination.

Blue Flag first for Sint Maarten and the US Virgin Islands

On the 28 September 2011, the Blue Flag International Jury has awarded the Blue Flag to a beach and a marina in Sint Maarten as well as 4 beaches in the US Virgin Islands for the first time. Sint Maarten and the US Virgin Islands have therefore now completed their pilot phase and have achieved full implementation of the Blue Flag programme.

The International Jury decided to award the Blue Flag to 81 beaches and 13 marinas in the Bahamas, Brazil, Dominican Republic, French Departments and Territories, Jamaica, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten, South Africa, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands and the United Arab Emirates. Detailed information about the 2011-2012 awards for the Southern Hemisphere and the Caribbean will be published on the Blue Flag websitewww.blueflag.org from 1 November 2011. 

Malcolm Powell, Chair of the International Blue Flag Jury and member of the FEE Executive Board, said: “Blue Flag is proud to count so many qualitative sites in the world, and to see the interest for the programme increase as more countries join us.”

Originally a French idea, the Blue Flag programme became an international award in 1987 and has since spread across the world, expanding from one to 41 countries and reaching New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and Brazil. In 2011, the Blue Flag sites around the world are in total 3650.

Each year, national Blue Flag juries assess all Blue Flag candidates to ensure they meet all of the criteria for beaches and marinas at the national and international level. Those that do are then forwarded to the International Jury, who focuses on set criteria that varies from year to year, before giving a final verdict.

The International Jury is composed of representatives from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), International Lifesaving Federation (ILS), the World Conservation Union (IUCN), an international environmental education expert, the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA) and the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE).

The Blue Flag International Jury would like to congratulate all sites awarded this year for their commitment to the programme and the high standards achieved for the public and our environment.

The Blue Flag also greatly appreciates the support of its sponsors: Corona Extra, Shipmate and BeachTech.

Spirit of New Zealand flying the Blue Flag

The 'Spirit of New Zealand' the (tall) flag ship of the Spirit of Adventure Trust was officially welcomed as a member of the global Blue Flag programme at a ceremony on Friday at Westhaven Marina Auckland.

The programme to be known as the ‘Sail Training International Blue Flag Scheme’ is as a result of The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and Sail Training International joining forces to promote FEE’s Blue Flag programme to help protect the world’s marine environment. The programme is open to sail training vessels that belong to Sail Training International’s member national organisations in 26 countries and others that participate in sail training at Tall Ships events.

The Chairman of the Spirit of Adventure Trust Mr Stephen Fisher spoke of the importance of the sailing youth as the future guardians of the seas and is delighted to be flying the Blue Flag as an example for all boaties to follow. Trust has signed a Code of Conduct that will apply to everyone on board to minimise their impact on the marine environment both at sea and in port. The Trust received its Blue Flag Membership Certificate earlier this year, and remain fully committed to their ongoing contribution to protect New Zealand’s unique marine environment.

 “Our marine environment is deteriorating in New Zealand as it is almost everywhere around the world and protecting the marine environment is the responsibility of all especially those that go to sea and those that use the seaside for their playground ,” says Robert Acton, Chairman of FEE-NZ. “We applaud the Spirit of Adventure Trust in adopting the Blue Flag volunteer programme and look forward to working with and supporting in assisting young trainee crew members to really ‘make a difference’.”

The chairman of the "Auckland Waterfront" Bob Harvey after requesting a two minute silence period in respect for the recent Christchurch earthquake spoke on the power of nature and the vulnerability of Auckland to potential tsunamis, as well as the importance of safety and preparation for possible natural disastrous events. He commended the Blue Flag taking a lead in education towards protecting the oceans for future generations.

Nikki Kaye - Minister of Parliament for Auckland spoke specifically of the importance of protecting the waters and sensitive areas around New Zealand and talked on the initiatives taking place around some of the islands of the Hauraki Gulf that will see these natural habitats, flora and fauna restored. Nikki raised a symbolic Blue Flag to post celebrate the Spirit of New Zealand flying the Blue Flag and also for the new marina "The Landing" and Westhaven Marina having successfully qualified to receive the Blue Flag for the 2010/2011 year.