At the beginning of November 2011, South Africa will celebrate a remarkable achievement in that this will be the start of the 11 th year of WESSA's Blue Flag programme in South Africa .

Launched in November 2001 as part of the South African Government's CoastCare plans to implement the new coastal legislation, Blue Flag has grown from only 3 beaches in the first year to 27 for this the eleventh year of the programme. Growth has been significant and sustainable and for most coastal municipalities each year sees new beaches being introduced to the programme.

“The success of the Blue Flag programme in South Africa over the past 11 years can be attributed to the commitment of participating municipalities to provide beach-goers and holiday-makers with world class beaches offering a well-managed natural environment; safe, clean and well-managed facilities; and environmental education initiatives, whilst creating employment and tourism opportunities for our communities,” said Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs, Ms Rejoice Mabudhafasie. She gave the keynote address at the National Launch of the 2011-2012 Blue Flag Beach Season, held at Kenton-on-Sea (near Port Alfred, in the Ndlambe Municipality ). She praised the efforts of municipal staff, councillors and supporting communities in developing their Blue Flag beaches and maintaining standards of excellence in managing them and concluded by saying that the country should aim to have a Blue Flag coastline. WESSA's National Coastal Project Manager and National Blue Flag Programme Co-ordinator, Mr Ted Knott explained: “Blue Flag should be the benchmark, not the exception. Additionally, the Blue Flag programme should have a radiating effect – those beaches or marinas adjacent to Blue Flag Beaches, Boats and Marinas should ideally result in adjacent areas attaining an equally high standard. Those municipalities managing Blue Flag beaches are showing that high levels of excellence and delivery of services to benefit both local and international visitors are possible. “Blue Flag is an organized and internationally managed accreditation programme that provides a viable system for service excellence on our coastline and those municipalities receiving accreditation today should be acknowledged for what they have achieved” said Mr Malcolm Powell, International Blue Flag Jury Chairman, who was a spokesperson at the event.

Research has shown that the investment that coastal municipalities make in meeting and sustaining the international quality assurances that Blue Flag accreditation brings, pays off. Increasingly South Africa 's domestic tourists are choosing Blue Flag beaches as their “destination of choice” and in so doing, mirroring trends that have been seen in Europe and Scandinavia on their Blue Flag beaches. As the number of Blue Flag beaches on offer in South Africa increases, visitors will know have more choice in terms of visiting our world-class Blue Flag beaches.

Blue Flag as an environmental programme also brings significant benefits in terms of improved environmental management of our coastline. This is clearly manifested in the highlighting of issues relating to bathing water quality and the need to ensure that infrastructure is effectively managed to minimize impacts on coastal environments. The greatest threat to Blue Flag sustainability into the future will be the potential negative impacts of land-based pollution on sea bathing water quality. “Water quality in rivers and estuaries is having a serious effect on our coast”, said Knott. The Green Drop reports earlier this year highlight the very real challenges this country faces in managing waste water management systems and the need for us to ensure that the necessary skills and technical ability is in place at local government level.

South Africa was the first country outside of Europe to implement the Blue Flag programme and since its inception the programme has become a truly global initiative with over 40 countries participating and a number of countries undertaking the feasibility or pilot stage.

The South African beaches that have received Blue Flag accreditation for the 11 th year of Blue Flag in South Africa are:

City of Cape Town Municipality :

• Silverstroomstrand (*new)
• Clifton 4 th beach
• Camps Bay
• Llandudno (*new)
• Muizenberg
• Strandfontein beach
• Mnandi
• Bikini beach, Gordon's Bay

Overstrand Municipality :

• Kleinmond beach
• Hawston beach
• Grotto beach, Hermanus

Mossel Bay Municipality :

• Santos beach
• Hartenbos beach

Hessequa Municipality :

• Witsand, at the mouth of the Breede River
• Lappiesbaai, Stilbaai

Bitou Municipality :

• Robberg 5 th beach, Plettenberg Bay
• The Waves, Keerboomstrand, near Plettenberg Bay (*new)

Kouga Municipality :

• Dolphin beach, Jeffrey's Bay

Nelson Mandela Metro Municipality :

• Humewood beach, Port Elizabeth

Ndlambe Municipality :

• Kariega beach, Kenton-on-Sea
• Kelly's beach, Port Alfred

Hibiscus Coast Municipality :

• Trafalgar beach, south coast KZN
• Marina beach, south coast KZN
• Ramsgate beach, near Margate
• Margate beach
• Lucien beach near Margate
• Umzumbe (Pumula) on the south coast KZN

(*Refers to conditional Full Status, upon the beach meeting the relevant criteria by the end of November)

These beaches have achieved world-class standards during the past season and have been adjudicated by both a South African and an International Blue Flag Jury to meet the standards of excellence Blue Flag beaches must achieve.

There are currently 14 beaches that have applied to run a pilot or developmental stage of Blue Flag:

• Hibiscus Coast Municipality - Southport , Port Shepstone
• Umhlatuze Municipality - Alkandstrand, Richardsbay
• Kouga Municipality - Cape St Francis
• Hessequa Municipality - Gouritsmond
• Preekstoel, Stillbaai
• Mossel Bay Municipality - De Bakke
• Buffalo City Municipality - Gonubie, East London
• Nelson Mandela Metro Municipality - Wells Estate, Port Elizabeth
• Overstrand Municipality – Gansbaai (beach to be confirmed)
• Swartberg Municipality - Strandfontein, Matzikama
• Umdoni Municipality - Park Rynie Preston, Park Rynie Rocky Beach, Park Rynie
• Ndlambe Municipality - Middle Beach , Kenton-on-Sea

In addition, the whale-watching boat of the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, Whale Whisperer, has received a pilot Blue Flag, for the environmentally sensitive manner in which it undertakes its activities. The Blue Flag programme is also expanding in South Africa to include marinas; with three marinas in Cape Town and one in Port Alfred looking to achieve pilot status in the forthcoming season. Environmental Education is a key focus area for the Blue Flag Programme - at the National Launch, a new picture-building environmental educational tool called ‘Windows on the Coast' was unveiled, that will assist beach managers in providing quality environmental education activities at their beaches. Introduced by Prof Rob O'Donoghue of Rhodes University , he explained how this game was developed by WESSA to help communities understand and act on the issues and problems facing our coastline.

Blue Flag is an international annual award given to beaches that meet excellence in the areas of safety, amenities, cleanliness, environmental information and environmental management. The Blue Flag programme is currently run in over 40 countries globally and interest in the programme continues to grow. There are now almost 4,000 Blue Flag beaches and marinas around the world. In South Africa , the programme is co-ordinated by WESSA, and it is placed within the National Coastal Project, which in turn resides within WESSA's Water Programme. WESSA has 4 Programmatic Themes – Biodiversity; Energy; Waste and Water. WESSA is celebrating its 85 th Anniversary this year as a pro-active environmental NGO acting on behalf of the public, and aims to promote People Caring for the Earth (for more information on WESSA, visit www.wessa.org.za).

For more information on Blue Flag, visit www.blueflag.org.za or contact WESSA's National Coastal Project Manager and National Blue Flag Co-ordinator, Ted Knott 0823371273 or 033-3303931 ext 1132 (WESSA) or ted@wessa.co.za