Ray Nkonyeni Municipality has managed to secure six blue flag beaches at this year’s 2021/2022 Blue Flag Awards.
The beaches which made the cut are Marina, Trafalgar, Southport, Umzumbe, Ramsgate and Hibberdene.
A total of 60 Blue Flags were given to 51 beaches, five marinas and four sustainable tourism boats in South Africa.
Tevya Lotriet, National Coastal Coordinator for the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (Wessa) said it was the first time ever that more than 50 beaches were awarded blue flags.
“It is a massive achievement for Ray Nkonyeni Municipality to be handed a special award to Marina Beach for being 20 consecutive years on the programme and to Southport Beach for being 10 consecutive years on the programme.”
“We started the special awards last year in 2020. This is the second year that we have given special awards – it will ongoing in the future.”
Ms Lotriet said the hardest part is for a municipal beach to stay on the program, often due to water quality.
Water quality plays a critical role in obtaining and maintaining Blue Flag status. However, there could also be other non-compliance issues which could impact Blue Flag status, such as insufficient wheelchair access for an example.
On the mid South Coast, Pennington and Rocky Bay beaches have just earned themselves a Blue Flag Pilot Status.
Thirty-three pilot beach sites were recognized this year for their efforts toward reaching Blue Flag status in the near future. With a national goal of 100 Blue Flag sites by 2030, all efforts are now focused on assisting these pilot sites to become fully awarded with the Blue Flag.
Blue Flag South Africa is proudly in its twenty first year. In 2001, South Africa was the first country outside of Europe to join the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) on the Blue Flag Programme.
The iconic Blue Flag is one of the world’s most recognised voluntary eco-labels awarded to beaches, marinas, and sustainable boating tourism operators.In order to qualify for the Blue Flag, a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety, and accessibility criteria must be met and maintained.
With over 4500 sites in over 45 countries around the world, Blue Flag is actively contributing to the sustainable development goals. Blue Flag also campaigns against disparity, inequality, unemployment, health threats, depletion of natural resources, environmental threats, pollution and general environmental degradation.
In South Africa, Blue Flag has been operational since 2001 and has proud municipal, marina and tourism boat partners in 18 coastal municipalities around the country.
Blue Flag is voluntary, which shows a very strong commitment to environmental sustainability from those municipalities, marina’s and tourism boat operators that are awarded annually. All properties and companies that apply for the Blue Flag award are assessed by a South African National Jury as well as by the Blue Flag International Jury in Europe.
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