Blue Flag is the prestigious, voluntary eco-label for beaches, marinas and boats that is recognised as a trusted symbol of quality and regarded by the World Tourism Organisation as the most well-known eco-label globally.
The 82 Blue Flag sites in South Africa this year consist of 45 beaches, six marinas and six whale-watching, commercial or private boats that have been award full status; in addition to 25 sites that have been awarded pilot status, which is an important developmental stage acting as an incubation period for potential Blue Flag sites.
To achieve Blue Flag status, as many as 33 different criteria spanning over four aspects of coastal management have to be met: water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management (including access to sensitive areas) and safety and services. Each Blue Flag site is compelled to conduct several environmental education activities during the year, and to practise effective and efficient conservation management.
The event was hosted by the Knysna Municipality and attended by Minister of Tourism, Derek Hanekom, Knysna Municipality executive mayor Georlene Wolmarans, WESSA CEO Dr Thommie Burger and WESSA National Coastal Programme manager Ted Knott.
WESSA's Blue Flag Programme continues to grow significantly with a major contributing factor being the ongoing commitment from local governments which has resulted in several new municipalities joining the programme - these are Umdoni (Pennnington Beach) and KwaDukuza (Blythedale Beach) in KZN and Ngqushwa (Hamburg Beach) in the Eastern Cape.
Every coastal municipality in KZN is now involved in WESSA's Blue Flag Programme, with Full or Pilot Status sites, while the Western Cape's Hessequa Municipality is the first municipality in South Africa to have all of its beaches feature on the Blue Flag programme.
Newcomers to the programme in the Western Cape are Plettenberg Bay's Lookout Beach and the Gordon's Bay Harbour Island Marina, while a new whale-watching boat on the programme is the 'Ocean Odyssey' with its home port in Knysna.
Blue Flag stalwart Humewood beach in Port Elizabeth, the oldest Blue Flag beach in South Africa, is still on the programme along with fellow long-standing Blue Flag site, Muizenberg beach in Cape Town.
