Pick a Pier sees surge in Blue Flag marina sign ups

Pick a Pier, founded in 2017 by a team of passionate boating enthusiasts using technology solutions to connect boaters and marinas, has gained over 15 Blue Flag marina-sign ups to their AI-driven platform in 2022, offering hundreds of marinas on their platforms.

Marinas from across Europe have signed up to the Pick a Pier platform, including Blue Flag Italian-based Marina degli Aregai, Port de Saint-Cyprien from France, the Spanish Club Náutico de Águilas, and many others across the continent.

Pick a Pier’s digital transformation of the recreational boating industry is generating actionable data that helps get a clearer picture of boating’s impact on the environment. They use machine learning to monitor sailing traffic in real-time, and leverage user-generated input to understand and predict when, where and how people are sailing. They also optimise the utilisation of the existing berth supply so that marinas can do more with the resources they have, while protecting the ocean. Furthermore, in partnership with Blue Flag, Pick a Pier is asking new boaters to take the Sustainable Boating Pledge and adhere to eco-friendly practices at sea and on-shore.

Pick a Pier also launched an exclusive boater loyalty program - Popeye® Sail Club, the most advanced, rewarding and sustainable boating club. With a club membership, boaters earn points for online berth reservation and for reporting that their own berth will be vacant. They can redeem these points for discounts on future reservations through Pick a Pier. The earlier boaters take action, the more they earn points and discounts. Popeye® Sail Club promotes sustainable sailing, and allows marinas to reward their annual berth holders with best-in-class incentives at no additional cost. An additional benefit of the Pick a Pier platform for marinas is the inclusive payment service that makes the lives of both boaters and marina staff easier and enables the marinas to provide fast and smooth service.

Pick a Pier’s CEO Idan Cohen comments:

“Our mission is to make boating more accessible, convenient, and sustainable. Marinas using Pick a Pier are able to offer an increased level of customer communications and service, resulting in maximised profitability. It also allows Marinas to provide boaters with quick responses, excellent customer service and easy access to berthing.

We are excited to have new marinas onboard with Pick a Pier and know they will instantly benefit from optimised operations and unlocking berths to accommodate boaters. By joining Pick a Pier, these marinas have access to boaters and berth holders in real-time using our intuitive platform that provides a new level of transparency, communication, and profitability.”

The Pick a Pier platform is the innovative tool marinas need to make the most of their resources and embrace environmentally-minded business practices while providing a simple and effective option for boaters to plan their voyages.

About Pick a Pier

Pick a Pier was founded in 2017 to make sailing more accessible, enable boaters to get everywhere, and connect boaters worldwide. Optimising the use of marina berths through sharing economy principles to reduce the need for construction of additional berths, promote maritime tourism, and increase the profitability and sustainability of the marina industry. For more, visit https://pickapier.com a highly connected network of marinas and boaters. For additional information about Popeye, visit Popeye Sail Club.

Biodiversity webinars open to all Blue Flag members

As part of the Foundational for Environmental Education (FEE) GAIA 20:30 strategy for the next decade, a series of webinars focused on Biodiversity will be organised by the Blue Flag and Green Key teams in April and May.

Launched by FEE in 2021, the GAIA 20:30 strategy represents the organisation’s commitment to contribute to a more sustainable world. As part of this strategy, FEE will be focusing its resources for the next decade on three critical environmental increasing threats to our planet – climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution.

In 2022, the GAIA 20:30 will protect global biodiversity through different actions: promoting sustainable management of the coastal zone, combating pollinator and insect loss, preserving existing and creating new natural areas, and finally raising awareness of efforts to remove invasive alien species.

Several initiatives will be held within the year dedicated to Biodiversity, including a Biodiversity Competition, a course, and four webinars, conducted in April and May. The webinars, developed in partnership between Green Key International and Blue Flag International teams, will focus on different aspects of biodiversity. The first webinar will be held on April 5th and the last one, conducted in May (date to be confirmed), can be particularly relevant for the Blue Flag national operators and members since they will explore the importance of biodiversity for coastal areas.

Focused on the Importance of Biodiversity to the Tourism Industry, the first webinar hosted on April 5th will raise questions as such:

• What is biodiversity?

• Why is it important for tourism?

• What are the negative impacts of tourism on biodiversity?

More information will be shared in the upcoming weeks on the Blue Flag page and social media on how to sign up for the Biodiversity webinars.

FEE becomes UN Decade Supporting Partner

The Foundation for Environmental Education, the umbrella organisation responsible for managing the Blue Flag programme, is now a supporting partner of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

For the next eight years, the United Nations will be joining efforts to prevent, end and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide. Through the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration initiative, which runs from 2021 until 2030, the intergovernmental organisation is setting grounds for a global movement that targets the restoration of different ecosystems, from forests and croplands to marine and coastal environments.

Since the UN Decade announcement, many organisations have manifested their support by helping the United Nations spread awareness and implement initiatives at a local level. As the world's largest environmental education NGO, the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) has collaborated with the UN, firstly through an Actor partnership, communicating and promoting UN Decade activities, but also facilitating the access to data, such as the hectares restored at the national and regional levels.

Now, FEE is committing to a longer-term partnership with United Nations by becoming a Supporting Partner of the UN Decade. As part of its responsibility as a Supporting Partner, FEE will be contributing with evidence-based recommendations to the Ecosystem Restoration Decade while encouraging synergies between the UN and new sectors and communities.

Blue Flag and Pick a Pier partner to launch exclusive Popeye® Sail Club

With the increasing demand for berth space, industry leaders are finding new ways to sustain our marinas while continuing to adamantly protect the ocean. Blue Flag’s digital partner, Pick a Pier, is at the forefront of this mission and has just introduced an exciting new initiative — the Popeye® Sail Club.  

Pick a Pier is a leading online platform that connects boaters and marinas, streamlining the berth reservation process and simplifying communication. Now it’s becoming even stronger with the launch of Popeye® Sail Club.

Popeye® the Sailor Man, the tough, loveable seafarer from the comics is now more helpful, more intelligent, and even stronger with technology — the perfect mascot to champion an international sustainability initiative.

 “We’re excited by the incredible opportunity to engage directly with boaters to promote sustainable boating practices,” said International Blue Flag Director Johann Durand. “With Popeye at the helm, we can make the message of responsible sailing far more memorable.”

 Here’s how it works

 For every sail, boaters earn points, which can be redeemed at participating marinas as credit towards reservation fees. By reserving berth space in advance on Pick a Pier’s platform, boaters can now sail with ease while maintaining the flexibility to change their reservation up until the day of arrival.

 Knowing with certainty exactly where to dock in two weeks is reward enough. But with a Popeye® Sail Club membership, boaters will be further rewarded for those advance reservations. Boaters can book a berth with priority access at some of the most sustainable marina destinations and get points for every USD/Euro spent. They’ll also get points for reporting that their own berthing space will be vacant when they sail away from their home marina. The programme encourages boaters to plan ahead by giving up to 3 times the points on early reservations.

 Points can then be redeemed for discounted reservations and other marina services. On top of that, Pick a Pier will have special offers and promotions just for members that make points even more worthwhile.

Popeye® Sail Club is launching by invitation only and boaters at participating marinas will be the first to get their exclusive membership. Other boaters can be added to the waitlist at www.popeyesailclub.com

“We are extremely proud of this one-of-a-kind programme. Popeye® Sail Club is taking the Pick a Pier experience one step further. The club is designed for the most passionate boaters, empowering them to easily sail in a more sustainable way — and rewarding them along the way,” explains Idan Cohen, CEO of Pick a Pier.

Promoting better sustainability practices 

Popeye® Sail Club is built around sharing economy principles that promote better use of existing resources and sustainability.  

Pick a Pier is already helping Blue Flag marinas optimise their resources without compromising the environment or creating more work for their staff. Allowing marinas to do more with what they have reduces the need for marina construction or expansion. 

But working with marinas and incentivizing boaters to plan ahead to increase sustainability is just one piece of the puzzle. In partnership with Blue Flag, Pick a Pier will ask that new boaters take the Sustainable Boating Pledge and adhere to eco-friendly practices at sea and on-shore. 

 The five basic principles are simple and incredibly effective in raising awareness among boaters and promoting a healthy ecosystem. 

1. Protect the Waters
   Refuel with care and never dump waste into the ocean

2. Safeguard Marine Life
   Anchor and fish only in permitted areas 

3.  Minimise Waste
   Avoid single-use plastics and use eco-friendly cleaning products when possible. 

4. Be More Considerate
   Be mindful of other boaters in your vicinity. Dump sewage only where permitted. 

5. Stay Watchful 
   Report violations and inform authorities about hazards. 

Blue Flag is committed to ensuring a resilient ocean, and Popeye® Sail Club will help us reach more boaters, showing everyone that ease of use, profitability and sustainability go hand in hand.  

Blue Flag has begun using a new material for their flags created by recycled PET bottles

Blue Flag has made alterations to their fabric being used for the Flag, in partnership with Semaphore, the flag is now created utilising 100% recycled PET bottles.

Blue Flag works alongside Semaphore who produce the Flags which are used on certified beaches. Figures from 2020 production included orders that were dispatched toward forty-eight countries covering four continents. In 2021 the partnership with Semaphore was renewed with new material being used for the flags, offering the same products and sizes as before however with a new material: PET Flag. 

This recycled material is made from used PET bottles that are collected in supermarkets and other collection points in western Europe. After collection, the bottles are chopped up in little flakes and then melted into polyester yarn. This yarn is then used to create the new flag fabric on which the Blue Flag is screen printed in The Netherlands.

The new PET Flag material was rolled out during the 2021 season on Blue Flag beaches all over the world with very positive results.

Team Semaphore is very happy with the new contract and we look forward to continuing working with the Blue Flag organisation! -Team Semaphore

Tobago Boat Operator achieves the International Blue Flag award

The International Blue Flag Jury has granted the prestigious Blue Flag award to the Tobago tourism boat operator Top Catch Charters. Top Catch Charters has now entered an elite class of Blue Flag awarded boat operators and is currently the only Blue Flag awarded boat in the English speaking Caribbean.

The achievement of this renowned environmental award has meant that Top Catch Charters operations has complied with standards pertaining to environmental management, environmental education and information, safety and services, social responsibility and responsible operation around wildlife. The staff of Top Catch Charters has demonstrated their ongoing commitment to adhering to international best practices as it relates to providing quality service and safety standards to their guests whilst celebrating and protecting the natural environment.  Ms Shivonne Peters, Manager of Top Catch Charters explains what it means for the business to achieve this award.

“The Blue Flag award for us represents the fulfillment of our goal to provide eco-friendly tours to our customers and transform Tobago’s tourism product. For us at Top Catch Charters, we began our journey with the concept of a sustainable business model; one that ensured we minimized our environmental impact. By developing simple strategies such as saying no to single use plastics and providing alternatives through locally sourced materials such as calabash and bamboo, we truly believed we could encourage our clients to practice sustainable habits, well beyond the duration of our tours. We certainly hope that this is the start of a movement in the tour industry, not only in Tobago but in Trinidad and Tobago. Ultimately, it proves for us and says to the world that sustainable tourism is possible in Tobago as we can successfully balance economic activities with environmental conservation”.

Top Catch Charters was one of four tourism boat operators that were recipients of grant funding by the UNDP Global Environmental Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF SPG) Green Innovator Challenge in Trinidad and Tobago. As a beneficiary of the grant Top Catch Charters received the necessary assistance and services to apply for the Blue Flag programme and ultimately accede to the necessary criteria to achieve the prestigious environmental award. Dr. Sharda Mahabir, National Coordinator GEF SGP UNDP, also extended her congratulations and expectations, 

 “GEF SGP is pleased to support Green T&T in their efforts to strengthen tourism by certifying boat operators under Blue Flag. This certification will put our beautiful sister isle on the map in terms of initiatives in support of the Blue Economy. We look forward to positive outcomes and benefits coming out of this project and more GEF SGP projects on the sister isle.”

The National Operator for the Blue Flag programme Green T&T worked alongside Top Catch Charters and three other tourism boat operators as part of the project proposal 'Reducing environmental footprint and improving eco-friendly Blue Economy by supporting Blue Flag certification for four small tour boat operators in Tobago.' Top Catch Charters was the first to submit their application to the Blue Flag National Jury, which was indicative of their steady commitment to preserving their natural environment and reducing their operations environmental footprint, inspite of the challenges posed by the COVID 19 pandemic. Joanna Moses-Wothke, CEO of Green T&T further elaborates what this achievement means for Top Catch and local tourism in general.

“This is a very significant accomplishment and there is a lot to celebrate. This is the first and only Blue Flag certified Boat Operator in the English-speaking Caribbean, the only Blue Flag certified site in Trinidad and Tobago and the first and only Blue Flag certified site for Tobago. Top Catch Charters is trailblazing when it comes to environmental performance for tour boat operators, especially on the heels of theTravel Industry Club (TIC) Destination Awards in which Tobago was given 2nd place. We at Green T&T are very proud to be a part of the ground-breaking achievements and we look forward to our continued work with Top Catch Charters and other tour boat operators and beaches on the island.”

 The Blue Flag programme is owned and managed by the international, non-governmental, non-profit organisation FEE (the Foundation for Environmental Education) based in Denmark. The program has been operating in Europe since 1987 and has become a highly respected and recognised award, working to bring together the tourism and environmental sectors at local, regional and national levels to ensure sustainable tourism.  Currently, the Blue Flag is flying at over 4,600 sites in 47 countries and has over 80 blue flag awarded boat operators worldwide. Mr Narendra Ramgulam, Director of Product Development & Destination Management, Tobago Tourism Agency Limited describes the significance of this achievement to the destination of Tobago.

“This Blue Flag award for Top Catch showcases the strong environmental work that has gone into setting Tobago apart from its regional competitors. Last year, destination Tobago achieved pilot status for 3 Blue Flag beaches, earlier this year we followed up with aligning our accommodation sector to the Green Key certification, and now our tourism boat operators like Top Catch are on board to fulfill the destination's strategic sustainable advantage. 

This is the first private-public partnership of its kind on the island, and its success will act as a catalyst for other tourism operators to come on board so we can transform Tobago together. There is still a long road ahead in achieving our sustainability goals for Tobago, our residents and our visitors, and we will continue to foster the stakeholder partnerships necessary to ensure continuity, rejuvenation, revitalization and success as we move the destination forward together.

While we enjoy the success of our first official Blue Flag designation for Tobago, we at the Tobago Tourism Agency Limited are proud of Top Catch for leading the way and fulfilling the criteria set out by the Foundation for Environmental Education to make this possible.  We are also grateful to our partners at Green T&T for their support which made this a reality.

As a foundational principle of FEE for the roll-out of the Blue Flag programme in Trinidad and Tobago, a National Jury comprised of local stakeholders, discerns on all Blue Flag applications. Upon approval by the National Jury the application is forwarded to the International Jury for final vetting and approval. In Trinidad and Tobago the National Jury comprises of representatives from the Ministry of Tourism, Division of Tourism, Culture and Transportation- Tobago House of Assembly, Tobago representative of the Trinidad and Tobago Life Saving Society, Community Development Enterprise Development and Labour, Solid Waste Management Company Limited, Department of Modern Studies, Signal Hill Secondary School, Environmental Management Authority, Division of Health Wellness and Family Development- Tobago House of Assembly, Yacht Services Association of Trinidad and Tobago and Tobago Tourism Agency Ltd.

Better Sustainability, Efficiency and Profitability Through Digital Transformation

Visitor reservations are lucrative, and now they are also more sustainable. The more berths your marina can free up for visitors, the less pressure to build new marinas and damage the coast. And the good news is that more reservations don’t have to mean more work for your team.

While some boaters stay close to the marina, hundreds of thousands of them cast off to visit a different marina every year. We help educate them to be mindful of the environment, but taking on visitors is often more work than handling residents. Visitors may account for fewer berths, but they demand more of the staff’s time. It’s sometimes hard to imagine taking on more visitors, but being a sustainable marina means being part of an industry-wide effort to handle the increasing demand of boaters properly.

We’ve teamed up with Pick a Pier as our official digital partner to do just that. Blue Flag marinas can use Pick a Pier to handle new reservations and communicate with visitors more easily, which means they can work faster and smarter. 

Digitising for Optimal Reservations

The first and foremost function of Pick a Pier is digitising the reservation process. Our marinas can now receive a reservation request online, send a quote based on the boat’s specifications, and also request any documents you need. You can even set up prices ahead of time to send automatic quotes and keep records on file for repeat visitors. All this saves time, reduces paperwork, and makes errors less likely. And rest your worries—the platform is certified with the highest internet security and privacy standards, including  GDPR compliance.

We recommend using Pick a Pier to move away from the pen and paper process. Not only to make it easier on the marina’s staff but also to provide a better experience for visiting boaters, allowing them to spend less time on bureaucracy and enjoy an improved customer experience. The increased efficiency and time-saving is a boon to all marinas using Pick a Pier and can even help them take on more reservations.

Interconnecting to Increase Visibility

Our marinas can enjoy another advantage by listing on Pick a Pier’s boater platform, which offers a searchable marketplace for marinas. Boaters can find a marina in their planned destination, read up details about it, and make a reservation with a click.

Having many marinas on the platform allows boaters to have more information about where they are heading, making it easier for them to choose the best marina for them. Simply by having your marina on the platform, marina managers join a network of accessible marinas, and boaters are much more likely to make a reservation with them.

A Forward-Thinking Communication Experience

We know that some of the most time-consuming customer interactions are often the result of poor or slow communication. Through Pick a Pier’s built-in chat, marinas can correspond directly with boaters, ensuring immediate communication with a log to prevent misunderstandings.

Being able to contact the marina directly in this manner means customers don’t need to visit the marina offices to handle any issues they might have, freeing time for the marina staff.

Better Sustainability for the Long Run

Perhaps the most crucial benefit of encouraging more visitors to the marina is its impact on the sustainability of the boating industry as a whole. There is greater demand for berthing spots, but building new marinas is harmful to the coastline and is not a viable solution. Marinas need to do more with the resources they have.

At Blue Flag, we’ve always believed that sustainability is also good business. Marinas adopting sustainable practices can do more with the resources they have. We chose Pick a Pier as our partner because it works with marinas to streamline their operations and with boaters to encourage sustainable practices. With Pick a Pier, marinas have the tools to achieve and maintain Blue Flag’s standards.

Working With, Not Instead

Pick a Pier’s solutions are not meant to supersede valuable marina staff. Rather, they empower team members with more freedom and flexibility in managing their workload, allowing them to welcome more visitors. Through the quick implementation of digital tools, our marinas can turn repetitive and burdensome tasks into automated flows without radically changing their current methods. With the most advanced, user-friendly technology, marinas can reach their full potential with hardly any need for training— reducing human error and creating a more accessible, convenient and sustainable boating industry for all.

Interconnecting to Increase Visibility

Our marinas can enjoy another advantage by listing on Pick a Pier’s boater platform, which offers a searchable marketplace for marinas. Boaters can find a marina in their planned destination, read up details about it, and make a reservation with a click.

Having many marinas on the platform allows boaters to have more information about where they are heading, making it easier for them to choose the best marina for them. Simply by having your marina on the platform, marina managers join a network of accessible marinas, and boaters are much more likely to make a reservation with them.

A Forward-Thinking Communication Experience

We know that some of the most time-consuming customer interactions are often the result of poor or slow communication. Through Pick a Pier’s built-in chat, marinas can correspond directly with boaters, ensuring immediate communication with a log to prevent misunderstandings.

Being able to contact the marina directly in this manner means customers don’t need to visit the marina offices to handle any issues they might have, freeing time for the marina staff.

Better Sustainability for the Long Run

Perhaps the most crucial benefit of encouraging more visitors to the marina is its impact on the sustainability of the boating industry as a whole. There is greater demand for berthing spots, but building new marinas is harmful to the coastline and is not a viable solution. Marinas need to do more with the resources they have.

At Blue Flag, we’ve always believed that sustainability is also good business. Marinas adopting sustainable practices can do more with the resources they have. We chose Pick a Pier as our partner because it works with marinas to streamline their operations and with boaters to encourage sustainable practices. With Pick a Pier, marinas have the tools to achieve and maintain Blue Flag’s standards.

Working With, Not Instead

Pick a Pier’s solutions are not meant to supersede valuable marina staff. Rather, they empower team members with more freedom and flexibility in managing their workload, allowing them to welcome more visitors. Through the quick implementation of digital tools, our marinas can turn repetitive and burdensome tasks into automated flows without radically changing their current methods. With the most advanced, user-friendly technology, marinas can reach their full potential with hardly any need for training— reducing human error and creating a more accessible, convenient and sustainable boating industry for all.

FEE joins celebrations of this year’s World Tourism Day on ‘Tourism for Inclusive Growth’

On this World Tourism Day, which is dedicated to tourism’s potential to foster and promote inclusive growth, the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) is celebrating the achievements of its two tourism-related programmes, Blue Flag and Green Key, and their contribution to increasing inclusivity in the tourism sector.

Official message from the Foundation for Environmental Education’s CEO, Daniel Schaffer

As the world’s largest environmental education organisation, with members of all shapes and sizes in every corner of the world, inclusiveness is not only a core value for FEE but also a precondition for the sustainable development of our programmes. By involving multi-stakeholder approaches in our processes and including the voices of different interest groups, our programmes can ensure the long-term success of sustainable tourism development within local communities.

However, we believe that this does not only apply to our programmes, but to the tourism sector in general. Only if we strive for inclusive decision-making processes and empower all members of society can the positive economic and social benefits of tourism really be available to the whole community.

An example of inclusiveness through FEE’s Blue Flag programme is its work with accessibility organisations to ensure that people with disabilities can enjoy both the economic and recreational benefits of tourism. For example, the Paradisus brand, manager of two Blue Flag awarded beaches in the Dominican Republic, implemented an inclusion programme that gives work opportunities to people with hearing, visual or motor disabilities, while the programme in South Africa initiated the “Beach Stewards” project for the development and skills-training of unemployed youth for future employment in the eco-tourism sector. Furthermore, the Blue Flag programme promotes accessibility on beaches to make sure that everyone can enjoy them safely.

Photo credit: WESSA

In light of the latest global events, we have once again realised how important the tourism industry is and how many livelihoods directly and indirectly depend on it. Sadly, we have also once again come to witness that the impact of these kinds of events is worst for the most vulnerable members of society. A thriving, strong community must practice an inclusive approach that takes all its members into account and allows them to have a stake in decision-making.  

Similar to how the pandemic affected the most vulnerable groups, so do the critical issues of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, which are at the heart of FEE’s GAIA 20:30 strategy to drive positive change over the next decade. At FEE it is our mission to empower people of all ages, genders, abilities, and classes to be part of the solution and build a future that benefits everyone.

A recent example of how FEE empowers people through education is our project on Education for Sustainable Development in the tourism sector. Within the scope of this project, hospitality professionals in Cambodia received training on sustainable practices to build their capacity to create a positive impact on the local community through their businesses. It was carried out through the Green Key programme in collaboration with the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ).

Changing mindsets about inclusivity and tackling the challenges presented in FEE's GAIA 20:30 strategy, through either top-down processes or through grassroot initiatives, requires educational tools and resources for many different audiences.  FEE recognises that education is an essential element for driving positive change and will continue to embed education in all its programmes and initiatives.

Accessibility and Inclusive Tourism Development in Nature Areas

Over the past months, Blue Flag International has joined the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Affiliate Members network to provide best practices towards Accessibility and Inclusive Tourism Development in Nature Areas.

The publication and some of the best practices have been presented at the FITUR 2021 in Madrid earlier this month. Blue Flag International was represented by the Blue Flag Spanish Operator, ADEAC.

To read the newly released UNWTO publication, click on the pictures below!

The Sea Pastic vessel

Sea Plastics, an association founded in 2016 by three students from the French engineering school AgroParisTech, has developed an environmental awareness and awareness action plan as they pass through Valencia, together with the Lycée Français and in collaboration with the Oceanogràfic Foundation, on micro plastics, based on RCN de Valencia from where they will explain their research to the public and report on this environmental problem.

Today's event was attended by Paula Puzón. Regional Secretary for the Environment of the Generalitat Valenciana, accompanied by Juan i Huguet. Regional Secretary for Innovation and Digital Transformation; Marisa Tejerizo and Marisa Bueno from the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition; Sergi Campillo, Vice Mayor of the Valencia City Council, accompanied by Giusepe Gressi, Councilor; Ana Viciano. Head of the beaches of the Valencia City Council; Virginia Yuste, Vice President of ADEAC- Blue Flag program; Ana Pérez-Montero. Technical Director of ADEAC; Celia Calabuig. President of the Valencia Oceanogràfic Foundation; Pepa Ferrando and Elena Balaguer from the Valencia Oceanogràfic Foundation; Dimitri Jelinski. President of SEA Plastics, accompanied by its Vice President Lorraine Wemaere, as well as Manon Vichot and Hélène Lovato; Alejandro Fliquete, president of the RCN Valencia, together with José Rubio Vice-president, Salvador Bueno Secretary General, Carlos de Beltrán, Manager of the RCN of Valencia.

Attendee statements:

“For the Real Club Náutico of Valencia, it is an honor to be able to have the Sea Plastics vessel in our facilities today and to use the Club as a base port. From here they will explain to the public the research they have carried out on this environmental problem, together with Lycée Français and in collaboration with the Oceanographic Foundation.

Discharges into the sea - especially plastics - are causing serious damage to the environment and seriously damaging our environment.

From the Club we want to educate all our sailors and, especially, the young people who are taking their first steps in sailing, of the importance for humanity of taking maximum care of this precious asset as the sea. It is the great lung that we have on our planet and we are obliged to take care of it and protect it ”, explains Alejandro Fliquete.

“The research we are carrying out aims to study the plastic fragments of less than 5 millimeters present in the Mediterranean, by taking water samples from the surface up to 50 meters deep. The expedition is also developing new protocols for taking samples of nanoplastics, invisible to the human eye, but very numerous. ”- declares Manon Vichot, Secretary of Sea Plastics.

“When SEA Plastics contacted Blue Flag, we did not hesitate to put ourselves at their disposal to facilitate their journey between the marinas of Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands, as it’s very important to us to investigate the micro-plastics that are affecting our Mediterranean Sea so much. Invisible pollution is one of the issues on which we try to raise public awareness through our environmental education programs”. - declares Virginia Yuste, Vice President of ADEAC

“This year, more than ever, we have seen the importance of preserving and restoring biodiversity in our ecosystems. The analysis of water quality and research such as the Sea Plastics project are essential to develop initiatives aimed at reducing plastics and micro-plastics in the marine environment”, declares Paula Tuzón, Regional Secretary for Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition of the Valencian generalitat.

Tuzón has highlighted the impulse and support of the Department of all actions aimed at improving water quality and has valued "the search for solutions to the problem of plastic in the seas, from the base of knowledge and scientific study".

The Vice Mayor of Valencia and Councilor for Urban Ecology, Sergi Campillo, welcomed the arrival of the Sea Plastics ship to the city to “raise awareness, based on science and research, of the need to reduce the consumption of packaging and plastics, and that in case of doing so they are deposited in the yellow containers to facilitate their recycling”.

The deputy mayor recalled that the fight against the pollution of plastics and micro-plastics in the sea and in our natural landscapes is collective "it is up to the administrations and the citizens as a whole."

For Campillo, “it is very important to become aware of the serious environmental crisis that the planet is suffering caused not only by the effect of the increase in temperatures as a result of the use of fossil fuels but also by the contamination of plastics and micro-plastics in the environment. Marine".

“The Oceanographic Foundation works to protect the environment and marine life. Among its different lines of research and conservation, it has a marine litter monitoring project together with MITECO through which the reality of beaches can be learned and allows the population to be aware of the importance of caring for the oceans. In collaboration with SEA Plastics, as well as with other entities for environmental purposes, it has carried out a beach clean-up and returned a turtle recovered in the ARCA del Mar to the sea.

For the Oceanographic Foundation it is a pleasure and recognition to be able to join forces with those of an organization like SEA Plastics, because thanks to alliances of this type we are able to raise awareness among more people and thus achieve a change. ”- Elena Belenguer tells us.

Blue Flag and Pick a Pier Join Forces in Rewarding Sustainable Maritime Businesses

Pick a Pier's robust digital platform will help Blue Flag marinas enhance communication with their customers, enjoy greater exposure for their sustainable business practices, and encourage boaters to protect the maritime ecosystem.

As the sailing season begins, boaters have started to venture overseas to their favourite cruising grounds. Marinas of the Blue Flag network will be ready to meet them with added value: Pick a Pier's digital membership.

Pick a Pier developed a new digital system, which will enable the boost of the maritime environmental agenda. Thanks to Pick a Pier's platform, we will reduce the ecological impact of marinas, encourage environment-friendly behaviour among boaters, and reward sustainable businesses with greater visibility and recognition. The partnership covers a full array of free tools, state of the art technology and unprecedented solutions to the Blue Flag Marinas.

At the center of the partnership is a Sustainable Sailing Code of Conduct that will extend the reach of Blue Flag’s commitment amongst a growing boater community. Together, Blue Flag and Pick a Pier will gather tangible evidence to the benefits of sustainable practices and help the industry become more environmentally-minded.

With Pick a Pier's state-of-the-art digital platform, boaters will be able to easily identify Blue Flag accredited marinas when planning their sailing trip and stay informed of best practices to preserve the maritime environment. Boat owners can leverage a digital membership card, make berthing reservations at select marinas, and communicate directly with marina operators. The result is an optimized customer journey—easy, convenient, and sustainable. By joining the Pick a Pier Super Network, Blue Flag marinas become connected to many others across the world, thereby benefiting from increased, high-quality traffic.

"Pick a Pier shares Blue Flag's commitment to keeping our waters clean and blue," says Pick a Pier CEO Idan Cohen. "This partnership will encourage businesses and boaters to work together in reducing the environmental impact of sailing and will demonstrate the benefits of sustainable practices at sea. We are excited to be leading the industry towards a sustainable future, combining a customer-centric experience, advanced supply management technology, and environmental awareness.”

“Blue Flag is proud to be partnering with a company that combines excellent customer service with an environmentally-friendly agenda. Through this partnership, we will reach a wide audience, from marinas to boaters, and will raise awareness of coastal sustainability," adds Sophie Bachet Granados, Blue Flag International Director.

We are very excited to begin this journey with Pick a Pier. Their dedicated support team is available to assist with any question. We encourage you to activate your marina profile today on blueflag.pickapier.com

Blue Flag Turkey fights marine litter

Notwithstanding the tough year behind us, one of our Blue Flag members, Blue Flag Turkey, has not stopped protecting their beaches. Their work against marine litter in Sardala Bay, Kındılçesme and Şile was recorded and plotted on the European Environment Agency marine litter maps, with the intention to guarantee a cleaner and safer environment for future generations.

2020 has been a year that made us face extraordinary changes in our daily lives. However, issues such as marine litter have not disappeared, and Blue Flag members are here to try to change this situation. As a matter of fact, Blue Flag Turkey has tried its best during the past year for the well being of future generations. The three studies conducted and physical efforts made to fight against marine litter have involved Sardala Bay, Kındılçesme, and Şile.

Research and achievements

The first study was conducted by Marine Litter Monitoring in Sardala Bay in Kocaeli. Kocaeli Municipality, Kandıra county municipality, and Bağırganlı Elementary school students accompanied the study. According to Marine Litter Watch criteria; the study is conducted in 100 metered long coastal areas, and 939 pieces of waste are collected in an hour! 421 cigarette butts, 42 glass bottles, 37 plastic bottle caps,26 food packages, 29 beverage cans, and 17 surgical masks were the most common wastes that have found. 

The second MLW area was the Kındılçesme picnic field, which is located in between two awarded beaches in Kemer, Antalya, on the 3rd of November. This area was no exception and a wide variety of litter was found: 20 plastic bags, 116 cigarette butts, 47 metal caps,7  surgical masks, and 26 pieces of fishnet.

The last study was held in Şile – İstanbul on 27th November. It was held in the area between the Blue Flag awarded beaches and 1 km from the non-award-winning Uzunkum beach. Şile Municipality Deputy Mayor, Soner Berksan Şile Municipality Directorate of Environmental Protection and Control and Survey Project Manager accompanied us during the study. Among all kinds of waste left by picnickers, fluorescent lamps, and bulbs stroke our attention! Out of the 571 pieces of waste we found, 546 were plastic, which was very sad to find out. Also; 120 Polystyrene products,111 plastic caps, 96 shopping bags, beverage bottles, beverage cups, foam sponge, and rope and cord, were the most common wastes we found. In addition to these, we also encountered wastes such as diapers, syringes, lighters, combs, cosmetics, medicine containers, etc.

Blu Flag Turkey’s commitment continues

All the litter was plotted and recorded on European Environment Agency Marine Litter Watch maps. To maintain these areas clean and safe, Bue Flag Turkey is committing to work in these areas 4 times this year. Besides, the collaboration of Blue Flag Turkey with the authorities and the public makes us proud and motivates us to keep raising awareness and protect our beautiful beaches from marine litter.

Blue Flag growth continues in Asia and South America, International Jury awards first beaches in India and Chile

Blue Flag International is pleased to announce the results of the Blue Flag International Jury meeting for sites in the Southern Hemisphere; the full list of awarded sites is now available on the Blue Flag International website. An exciting highlight of this year’s evaluation is the expansion of the programme into new countries in Asia and South America, with the International Jury awarding the first Blue Flags to beaches in India and Chile. 

Radhanagar in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is one of the eight newly-awarded Blue Flag beaches in India. Photo by Sahil on Unsplash.

The Blue Flag International Jury met on 6 October to award 157 Southern Hemisphere sites for the 2020-2021 season. The sites include 126 beaches, 16 marinas and 15 tourism boats across 9 countries in the Caribbean, South America, Africa and the Indian Ocean region. With the newly awarded sites, there are now 4,671 sites flying the Blue Flag in 48 countries around the world.

“What makes Blue Flag unique as a programme is that it can reach down to local communities, but on a global level!” said Blue Flag International Jury member Ivor Abrose from the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT), summarising how the Blue Flag programme connects local communities to global issues. 

Blue Flag firsts in India and Chile

After several years of hard work, dedication and cooperation, India has achieved Blue Flag awards for eight beaches around the country.

Kartikeya Sarabhai, Director of the Centre for Environment Education and Blue Flag India said, “I am happy that India has been awarded the Blue Flag for eight beaches. Our team from Blue Flag India and National Jury, are privileged to have been able to facilitate the process and wish to commend the key role of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Govt. of India in fostering partnerships with the State Governments and local administration to initiate the journey towards achieving Blue Flag award. We cherish our association with FEE as the representative member for India and shall continue to nurture Blue Flag as a transformative platform, creating opportunities for empowering stakeholders to contribute positively towards sustainable coastal management.” 

Blue Flag International would like to congratulate all the stakeholders in India who collaborated to bring about this well-earned accomplishment. India’s successful implementation of the Blue Flag programme is an example of how countries can achieve sustainable coastal management and protect their coastal ecosystems while also attracting new visitors and promoting responsible tourism.

“Eight Indian beaches being conferred with the Blue Flag award is a testimony of concerted and collective participation of the State Governments, Local Administration, Beach Management Committees and various stakeholders in the project. The Ministry is extremely thankful for the continued support of other Ministries and their organisations of Government of India towards this initiative,” said R.P. Gupta, Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. You can read the full statement from the Secretary here.

In addition to the great success in India, the first beach in Chile has also received a Blue Flag award this year. The Blue Flag National Operator in Chile, Fundación Educarse, has managed to comply with the stringent set of Blue Flag criteria after participating in the programme for only one year. This is indeed quite an impressive achievement, as new countries usually require a two-to-three-year pilot period before obtaining their first Blue Flag.

Upon receiving the good news, Antonio Hirane Castaño, Executive Director of Fundación Educarse said, “We are very happy that the Municipalidad de Zapallar with Playa Grande de Cachagua has become the first in Chile and the Southern Cone to obtain the Blue Flag award. We have no doubts that a conscious and systematic work around the programme, such as the one they carried out, will allow many other beaches in our country to fly the flag in the near future. We are very keen to continue working with them, and other localities, to be a real contribution to the sustainable development of our coastal and lake communities.”

The Blue Flag International Jury commends all the awarded countries and sites for their continued dedication and commitment to protecting our coasts and oceans, especially considering the unprecedented challenges many have faced this year due to the ongoing global pandemic.

Best Practice Competition

In addition to awarding Blue Flag sites, the International Jury also reviewed submissions from the Southern Hemisphere for the 2020 Blue Flag Best Practice Competition. The theme of this year’s Best Practice Competition was pollution, and the jury was highly impressed with the many Blue Flag sites that have achieved exceptional outcomes from their efforts to keep our coasts and oceans healthy.

First place was awarded to the Dominican Republic for their “Wave of Change” initiative, which was implemented by the Iberostar Group at all three of their hotels in the country with the goals of reducing single-use plastics, promoting sustainable fishing, improving coastal health and providing environmental education to local communities.

The U.S. Virgin Islands came in second place with their watershed education outreach project that involved a 2-year assessment of the Smith Bay/Water Bay area in St. Thomas, followed by an informational brochure, numerous coastal clean-ups and educational activities about watershed pollution and protection.

India received the third place recognition for their integrated beach pollution facilities for waste and water management. All eight Blue Flag beaches in India were developed based on a “Zero Waste and Zero Pollution” concept, and have also been conducting “I am saving my beach” awareness campaigns for the last three years.

To learn more about the three winners, and to view many more inspiring best practice examples across a wide range of topics from Blue Flag sites around the world, visit the Blue Flag best practice database at www.blueflag.global/best-practices.

About the Blue Flag International Jury

The International Blue Flag Jury is composed of representatives from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), International Lifesaving Federation (ILS), the European Environment Agency (EEA), the European Union for Coastal Conservation (EUCC), the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA), the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT), the World Cetacean Alliance (WCA) and the Foundation for Environmental Education. You can learn more about each of the jury members on the Blue Flag website: www.blueflag.global/international-jury

The next meeting of the Blue Flag International Jury will take place on 13 April 2021 to award beaches, marinas and tourism boats from the Northern Hemisphere.

The Blue Flag International Jury met on 6 October 2020 to award sites in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Foundation for Environmental Education runs the Blue Flag programme: https://www.fee.global

Feel free to check out and use our copyrighted pictures for communication:  https://flic.kr/s/aHsk75W98q 

Adapting a Blue Flag environmental education activity to COVID-19 restrictions

Blue Flag environmental education activities around the world have been presented with challenges due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, many marine and coastal environmental educators have been looking at innovative ways to adapt traditional learning options.

Photo: © Marine Dimensions

One of these educators is Marine Biologist Dr. Sarah Varian, who runs a small community-oriented enterprise in Ireland. Her business Marine Dimensions is dedicated to raising awareness about the marine and coastal environment. As a result of the COVID-19 restrictions, Sarah and her team have been working on adapting one of their most popular workshops, The Marine Experience, to run online.

The workshop, which is designed to introduce all age groups to the wonders of our marine world, has traditionally been very hands-on and practical. This included an interactive display of live animals and authentic marine regalia, ranging from lobster claws and whalebones to starfish and shark egg cases. Therefore, when the Marine Dimensions team got the confirmation from the Wicklow County Council to trial some online events for the County’s Blue Flag Environmental Education Activities, they weren’t sure how effective a ‘hands-off’ option might be.

However, the educators found that they were able to maintain the high engagement rate of the workshop by keeping other core components of the outreach. For example, small group sizes, a knowledgeable tutor and interesting bio-facts all improved the quality of the learning experience.

Indeed, reviews provided by workshop attendees were very positive, and several benefits were noted in relation to running the event online, including the potential for:

• Maximising social distancing requirements concerning COVID-19 restrictions

• Added convenience for families working from home

• Engaging from a wide variety of locations, e.g. some families even watched the event en-route in the back seat of their car

• Flexibility in terms of interaction - families could turn off their video and audio to allow privacy if so desired

• Lower carbon emissions because of reduced travel associated with the event

With such encouraging results, the Marine Dimensions team is now looking forward to adapting the workshop to connect with schools and other programmes, thereby reaching out at the community level.

The trial online Marine Experience events were kindly facilitated by Wicklow Libraries, with funding from Wicklow County Council and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment through the Community Environment Action Fund (Local Agenda 21) in Ireland.

To read more about their programme, visit www.marinedimensions.ie

Blue Flag Pilot Status for Three Tobago Beaches

On Monday, the 12th of October 2020, the Tobago Tourism Agency Limited (TTAL) received the Blue Flag Pilot status from the Blue Flag International Jury for three beaches in Tobago. The beaches of King’s Bay, Bloody Bay and Mt Irvine Bay received a formal endorsement to fully engage in meeting the Blue Flag criteria and to submit their applications for the Blue Flag award as early as 2021. This makes Tobago the only island in the Lesser Antilles working officially towards the full implementation of the Blue Flag, which benefits its visitors and residents alike. Blue Flag is one of the programmes implemented in Trinidad and Tobago by the NGO Green T&T.

Photo: King’s Bay, © Jacob Bock

The Blue Flag Pilot status  has been announced by the Blue Flag National Coordinator, Joanna Moses-Wothke, who also provided the details leading up to the announcement as well as information about subsequent steps towards the Blue Flag certification.

Tobago was always poised as an ideal Blue Flag destination. With its pristine beaches, an intact montane tropical rainforest and small communities, it was more a matter of time, when the island would also be certified as one. Any beach that applies for the Blue Flag award must first undergo a gap analysis against the Blue Flag standards and must submit measures towards compliance. Once the pilot beaches are in full compliance, TTAL can submit the beach applications to the National and International Blue Flag Juries for the official Blue Flag award as early as 2021,

Joanna Moses-Wothke explained.

Besides the Blue Flag requirements, the three beaches share unique ecosystems such as coral reefs and rivers with rich biodiversity. Additionally, King’s Bay and Bloody Bay are situated in the planned North East Tobago UNESCO Man-and the-Biosphere site, another credence of international significance that promotes blue and green economies and sustainable management of natural resources.

Narendra Ramgulam, Director Tourism Product Development & Destination Management at the Tobago Tourism Agency Limited, stated:

Blue Flag is one of the most reputable and recognized awards for beaches worldwide.  Having been granted pilot status for three beaches means that we are taking steps in the right direction. This will not only help to boost our environmental sustainability as a destination, but through this process, we are also leveraging and building confidence in our eco-conscious travellers.  Trends from leading tourism journals and studies indicate that travellers post COVID-19 are going to be demanding safe destinations and destinations that are perceived to be clean/green. In this regard, Blue Flag gives the destination Tobago an edge over our competitors, as no other beaches in the English-Speaking Caribbean arein the Blue Flag pilot phase. This definitely makes us first movers in this aspect, and we hope to continue building on this thrust as we move forward as a destination with the image of being untouched and unspoilt.

 More information on the Blue Flag programme in Tobago can be found at http://green-tt.org/blue-flag-tt/

Photo: King’s Bay, © Tobago Tourism Agency

Monitoring marine debris for global environmental solutions!

The Foundation for Environmental Education Turkey (TÜRÇEV) continues to implement the Marine Litter Watch Programme of the European Environment Agency's ′′Marine Litter Watch′′ on the shores of the country.

Photo: © Foundation for Environmental Education Turkey (TÜRÇEV)

The Marine Litter Watch (MLW) programme is an initiative by the European Environment Agency (EEA) aiming to fight marine litter through the collection of data and information about disposed waste. At the same time, the initiative is designed to create awareness about the impact of littering on marine ecosystems and should strengthen the public’s willingness to provide the much-needed data. 

Almila Kindan, National Operator for the Blue Flag Programme at the Foundation for Environmental Education in Turkey, very much believed in this idea of contributing to global environmental solutions through scientific-based studies. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, TURCEV had already planned to do a pilot study together with the EEA MLW Expert in Turkey, Professor Ahmet Kideys from the Marine Sciences Institute of the Middle European Technical University (METU). After the pandemic, the TURCEV team still had the desire to be part of the marine litter monitoring activities and therefore decided to execute the project together with the guidance of Professor Ahmet Kideys. The expert provided detailed information about necessary litter items to look for at the beaches and the corresponding reporting procedure of the Marine Litter Watch initiative.

Following this guidance, Blue Flag Turkey organised the first Marine Litter Watch clean up and monitoring on the 13th of October 2020. The event was held at the Kumkoy Public Beach located in Aksu-Antalya, which is situated next to Blue Flag awarded beaches. Besides eight people from the TURCEV Antalya regional staff, representatives of the municipality of Aksu and officials of the Kundu Tourism Investors Union also participated in the event.

One of the requirements of the Marine Litter Watch initiative is to monitor littering in uncontrolled areas. This is why beaches situated close to Blue Flag beaches, which are not monitored but could potentially affect the image of Blue Flag beaches, have been chosen for the events. Therefore, considering the Marine Litter Watch application protocol, different 100-meter-long parts of uncontrolled non-Blue Flag beaches have been selected. This includes the Kumkoy Public Beach and the Sarigerme Beach in Ortaca-Mugla, which is placed between two different Blue Flag awarded beaches.

During the first survey at the Kumkoy Public Beach, waste was collected in about fifteen minutes by scanning the chosen area. Afterwards, the collected items were separated and registered according to their types. The most commonly collected items were: 121 pieces of cigarette butts, 64 pieces of plastic pet bottles, 36 pieces of single-use cutlery, 23 pieces of disposable face masks, disposable gloves and wet towels. The full list of items can be seen here.

At the second activity on the 17th of October 2020, 25 people from Blue Flag awarded beaches attended. These included representatives from Sarıgerme Çevre Eğitim Derneği-SARÇED, Hilton Dalaman Sarıgerme Resort, TT Hotels Tropical, TT Hotels Palace, Tui Blue Sarıgerme Park, Tui Magic Life Sarıgerme and Tui Blue Seno and TURCEV Mugla Regional Office Coordinator. Due to the significant number of participants, the collection of waste within the designated area was finished after only 30 minutes. Again, the waste was sorted by category, weighed and recorded according to the Marine Litter Watch excel template. The waste accumulated during the second event included: 1,103 pieces of plastics, 817 cigarette butts, 90 pieces of paper, 31 pieces of metals, 10 textile pieces, nine pieces of wood and six pieces of glass. Finally, the collected data was entered into the system of the Marine Litter Watch website and registered as a TURCEV Mavi Bayrak (Blue Flag Turkey) community activity. After approval from the EEA, the activity will be publicly displayed on the Marine Litter Watch map.

So far, Blue Flag Turkey has conducted two surveys. Another event is scheduled for the 27th of October in the Kocaeli Region.

School children in Brazil raise awareness about ocean littering issues

One year ago, participants of the “Onda Sustentável” (Sustainable Wave) project created a video with the public school students of Ubatuba in São Paulo, Brazil to raise awareness about the immense problem of ocean littering.

The “Onda Sustentáve” (Sustainable Wave) project is an environmental education project designed by Marina Kauai's Blue Flag Management Committee, together with Ilha Anchieta State Park Board, Coco e Cia Co-op, the Litoral Norte Marine Protected Area and the Commercial Association of Ubatuba, and was carried out as part of the Environmental Education activities required for marinas by the Blue Flag programme. Marina Kauai has been a Blue Flag marina since 2017 and is located in the city of Ubatuba in São Paulo, Brazil.

The main goal of the “Onda Sustentável” project is to raise environmental awareness in order to preserve the local biota and provide a connection between the local community, the natural environment and protected areas.

For this purpose, the kids of the Ubatuba public school have been learning about ocean littering topics in a playful and investigative way, including how to avoid buying material that can cause damage to the environment and the environmental effects of humans throwing trash on the street or in the sea.

The video that has been created as part of the project, therefore, addresses themes of “marine debris”, "waste disposal" and "conscious consumption" from the viewpoint of the public school students of Ubatuba. The idea was that the video would become a manifesto made by children, leaving them free to express their perceptions and desires based on what they have experienced and learned.

“In 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea!”, “Did you know that when we throw cotton buds in the toilet, it can go to the sewage, from there to the rivers, and then to the sea?” and “If someone litters the beach sand, when the tide rises, this litter can navigate to the sea and to other beaches”, are some of the issues that the kids discuss in the video.

Finally, the children state their personal strong opinions about this urgent issue, while emphasizing that everyone can rethink their own habits. In addition, they express their wishes for the future: a clean ocean for people to swim in, and clean beaches for them to play on!

Thanks to the the voluntary work of André and Isabela Kerber, this video has now been equipped with subtitles, enabling it to be distributed globally.

Blue Flag declares a climate emergency

Blue Flag joins other leaders in the tourism industry to call for urgent action on the climate crisis through the Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency initiative.

A rehabilitated sea turtle is released back into the wild at the Blue Flag awarded Ħondoq ir-Rummien beach in Malta. Climate change is putting increased pressure on sea turtles, as rising ocean levels and stronger storms erode beaches and warming oceans change sea currents and destroy coral reef habitats. Photo: ©Nature Trust Malta

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism was one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. According the UNWTO, there has been a 56-fold increase in international tourism since 1950. As more and more people set out to explore the world, they leave behind a larger and larger carbon footprint. Based on scholarly research published in the Nature Climate Change journal, tourism was responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2018.

As a major player in the world economy, the tourism industry has the opportunity to play a significant role in the fight against climate change. Sustainable travel is becoming more sought after, as travellers recognise the need to balance their wanderlust with environmental responsibility. The trend is expected to continue as the world begins to open back up to travel; we have learned the hard way that humans need to be more thoughtful about how our actions affect the planet.

Our planet’s oceans absorb nearly a third of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by human activity, according to the World Economic Forum, making them the second largest carbon sinks after forests. Additionally, coastal and marine environments are some of the most productive and biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet. These areas are also among the most popular tourism destinations in the world – drawing countless numbers of people for a holiday on the water.

Unfortunately, these beloved coastal and marine environments are also some of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Blue Flag has been working to protect our coasts and oceans since 1987, and we have seen how the escalating threats associated with climate change can devastate these precious ecosystems. We acknowledge that, as the world’s largest sustainability award for beaches, marinas and tourism boats, Blue Flag has a responsibility to do what we can to take action on climate change and protect our coasts and oceans for future generations.

That is why we are proud to join over 100 other tourism organisations in the Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency initiative. As a signatory of Tourism Declares, we commit to the following five actions:

• Within the next year, we will develop and implement a ‘Climate Emergency Plan’. As part of our own strategic goals for the coming decade, Blue Flag has already begun to develop an action plan to scale-up climate action through the programme, including more thorough carbon reduction criteria for the 4.500+ Blue Flag sites around the world.

• We will publicly share this climate emergency declaration and keep our network updated about progress towards our goals.

• We accept the current IPCC advice stating the need to cut global carbon emissions by 55% below 2017 levels by 2030, in order to keep the planet within 1.5 degrees of pre-industrial warming levels. We will develop our Climate Emergency Plan with actions that work towards this goal.

• We will work together with our network to encourage others to sign the climate emergency declaration, share best practices and actively participate in efforts to reduce carbon emissions in the tourism industry.

• We will advocate for change. We recognise the need for system change across the tourism industry, and we will continue to grow our voice in the global dialogue about climate change to advocate for urgent climate action.

Please consider joining the Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency movement to add your voice to the call for climate action. Together we can harness the power of the tourism industry to create real and lasting positive change and protect the future of our planet!

News from our partner Pick a Pier: promoting a culture of sustainability as a sailor, boat builder, marina or marina support services.

Most of us have heard this sentence at some point in our lives: change starts from within. Travel, just like anything else now, is mostly local, and maybe, instead of being a restriction, it is actually a sign for the right opportunity for a conscious and positive change. 

Diving in Puerto Rico; Photocredit: OPAS-BFPR

It has been a year already since Greta Thunberg, a teenager from Sweden, has sailed across the Atlantic with her protest act to call for a fast reaction for climate change. Back then, we had no clue that a world-wide pandemic is approaching us to the point of strict regulations on our freedom to travel, whether it is flying, sailing or just going out to the city centre. 

The urgency of the situation forced us to shift our perspectives from a world-wide global mindset to a local mindset. In other words, we found ourselves constantly thinking about what we can do right here, right now, that would create the most positive impact and the least negative effects, on ourselves and those around us. 

Most of us have heard this sentence at some point in our lives: change starts from within. Travel, just like anything else now, is mostly local, and maybe, instead of being a restriction, it is actually a sign for the right opportunity for a conscious and positive change. We are given the perfect moment, as people, but also as marinas, businesses and sailors alike, to adopt sustainable practices and reduce the environmental impact of sailing. It is heartening to see the steps already taken and planned, as outlined in World Sailing's Sustainability Agenda 2030. 

We need to promote a culture of sustainability, where every one of us does our part to combat climate change, contribute to the health of the ecosystem and to preserve clean waters and biodiversity for future generations. Boatbuilding has taken on the challenge to reduce the environmental impact of materials and products, reducing the carbon footprint of production and making products largely recyclable. Sailors are committing to using cleaning products that don't negatively impact the environment, to proper waste disposal and thoughtful fishing and anchorage. 

Marinas and marina support services also need to play a part. Berth shortages have been felt in several countries for years. As boat size grows and new boats enter the market, pressure will grow to boost the availability of berths. We need to find solutions that will curtail the demand for construction to meet this need. Aside from the substantial financial costs, constructing new berths poses risks to coastal ecosystems and increases emissions. The sharing economy offers an opportunity to maximise the potential of each berth by making sure that tourist traffic is directed towards already vacant berths and by incentivising the sharing of information that will enable optimisation of resources. 

Thunberg's decision to sail from Europe to New York in order to attend the Climate Convention has also highlighted the opportunity that this movement offers. Sailing is a sustainable tourism industry, reducing or even eliminating travel's carbon footprint. Sailing promotes sustainability by encouraging tourism dispersal, moving away from overcrowded city centres to a wealth of locations along coastlines and rivers that are otherwise overlooked by many tourists.

Aging of marina's clientele has been a hot topic over the past decade. A sustainable tourism agenda offers an opportunity to target a younger generation of travellers, looking for new and sustainable experiences, who have yet to commit to sailing in the same way as their parents. In order to attract these customers, it is not enough to offer a great travel experience, we also have to meet service expectations, including the expectation of online bookings and member discounts. 

As sailors, we understand the need to control the rise in extreme weather and the importance of clean waters more than most. Let us join together to ensure that our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren are also able to enjoy all that this great planet offers. 

Idan Cohen

The author is the Chairman of the Marine Innovation Association and a full member at ICOMIA, as well as the CEO of Pick a Pier, an innovative technology company that is creating the global standard for service-oriented and sustainable recreational maritime travel. Pick a Pier’s advanced technological solutions are designed to standardise, automate, and optimise maritime travel, in line with international travel tech standards. Pick a Pier facilitates marinas' digital transformation by optimising supply management and enabling boaters to extend their horizons and get anywhere-easier.

Blue Flag awarded to 27 beaches on the Belgian coast

Good news for all seaside visitors! On the 2nd of July, the Blue Flag was raised on 27 coastal beaches in Belgium. The Blue Flag is an international award for beaches, tourism boats and marinas that excel in quality and sustainability.

Copyright: Blue Flag Belgium

Until the day of the award ceremony, Belgium was almost the only European country without Blue Flag beaches on the coast. Thanks to the necessary interventions at the estuaries of the port channels of the water-treatment company Aquafin, as well as the efforts of the municipalities, the water quality has improved to such an extent that any coastal municipality is now eligible.

At the beginning of July, GoodPlanet Belgium, Tourism Flanders and Aquafin therefore officially raised the first Blue Flag at the Twins Club in Bredene, in the presence of the Mayors and the Minister.

I am convinced that this award will strengthen the positive image and reputation of the tourist destination Flanders nationally and internationally, and make Flanders even better known as a high quality and sustainable travel destination

says Flemish Minister of Tourism, Zuhal Demir.

Worldwide, there are 4.664 Blue Flag sites in 46 countries. However, a beach or marina does not get the Blue Flag award effortlessly. Locations that apply for the award are assessed by an external controller, an independent Belgian jury and an independent international jury. 

Fun in the water is the highlight of a day at the beach. Water purifier Aquafin is happy to support the Blue Flag award because a clean sea makes it clear why all those sewerage works are necessary for Flanders. Because in the end, all the water flows in the sea. The operators, who keep the water purification plants on the coast running, ensure that you can enjoy yourself as a family without having to worry about water quality,

says Valerie Lievens, communications manager at Aquafin.

However, the guidelines of the Blue Flag award include much more than regulations concerning clean swimming water. Each location also complies with strict standards concerning safety, general services and accessibility (for example, the presence of lifeguards, first aid equipment and the availability of drinking water, amongst others), environmental and sustainability management (such as a clean beach with possibilities to sort waste, clean toilets etc.) information about water quality, local nature reserves as well as an information board with a general map.  

Currently, there are twelve beaches and seven marinas in Belgium that already received the Blue Flag award in recent years and will continue to follow the regulations of the award in 2020. 

Contact

Jorine Vermeer, Project Manager Blue Flag
+32 473 13 45 76 | blueflag@goodplanet.be

 Valerie Lievens, Manager of Communication Aquafin
+32 476 96 79 45 |valerie.lievens@aquafin.be

Stef Gits, Spokesperson Tourism Flanders
+32 486 22 67 95 | stef.gits@toerismevlaanderen.be

 Andy Pieters, Spokesperson & Deputy Head of Cabinet Flemish Minister Zuhal Demir
+32 499 17 35 84 | andy.pieters@vlaanderen.be

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