BUFFALO CITY DELIGHTED TO RECEIVE BLUE FLAG PILOT STATUS RECOGNITION

The Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality is delighted following an announcement that two of it’s beaches, have received a Blue Flag pilot status from the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA).

 

The Blue Flag programme provides an excellent international standard for municipalities and tour operators.

 

A Blue Flag status, according to WESSA, is one of the world’s most acknowledged eco-labels awarded to beaches, marinas, and sustainable boating tourism operators.

 

The status is mostly obtained by beaches who have complied with WESSA regulations which includes over 33 different categories that includes water quality, environmental education activities, coastal management amongst others.

 

The beaches to be awarded the Blue Flag Pilot status are Gonubie Beach and Kidds Beach.

 

The Blue Flag season runs from 1 November until 31 October each year.

 

Areas flying the Blue Flag are showing their commitment to conserving fragile marine and coastal environment, raising environmental awareness, and increasing sound environmental practices.

 

BCM Executive Mayor Cllr Princess Faku said: “It is not easy to qualify for such a status as there are a lot of criterions the City has to meet. This includes among others compliance, environmental management of beaches, parking, safety, access points and most importantly, cleanliness.”

“Fortunately we have met those and we are working hard to add more of these Blue Flags in more of our beaches. We are a tourist attraction region and we have to live by those standards.”

“Another point that is important to qualify for Blue Flag status is the access to beaches of disabled persons.”

“BCMM has undertaken to transform Gonubie beachside through promoting universal beach access. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE) in conjunction with the Eastern Cape Government launched the Beach Access Mat for the persons with living disabilities as part of the Coastal Access Awareness campaign. It was launched in Gonubie this year. Together with the department, and other role-players, we have reached an agreement to form a partnership towards enhancing a greater participation in this region to attract persons living with disabilities in particularly wheelchair-users, strollers and to further promote universal full-beach accessibility in East London Gonubie beachside. I believe that those are some of the main criteria that have made us comply,” she said.

 

According to the WESSA website, participating municipalities are required to apply for Blue Flag status each year and the Blue Flag standards are only enforced at the beaches over the participating beach’s stated season, which varies from just two months of the year to the full 12 months.

 

The Metro is currently preparing for a bumper festive season with it’s coastlines that stretches about 68 kilometres with 10 beaches and various public swimming pools.

 

Plans are underway with multi disciplinary teams setup focusing on safety and security, beaches management, wastewater spillages, disaster management, water, electric, roads and tourism attractions.

 

The news of the Blue Flag status comes at the backdrop of an exciting announcement last week of at least 14 cruise ships that are due to dock at the Port of East London this summer.

 

The cruise season officially kicks off on 12 November with the famous 508 passengers “The Grande Dame of the Seas” or better known as the MS Amadea on Tuesday, 12 November.

 

The cruise highlights of the season includes:

• 6 visits by the magnificent Azamara Quest

• 4 calls by the luxurious Silver Spirit

• Special Christmas and New Year visits

The cruise ships season will bring close to 10,000 international visitors to Buffalo City shores.

 

The Metro acknowledges that, whilst getting a blue flag pilot recognition is regarded as a huge achievement, more work remains to be undertaken in terms of maintaining and getting the fully fledged the Blue Flag status and also complying with the conditions.

 

The WESSA Blue Flag Programme is in its 19th year focusing on coastal management, environmental education and awareness amongst tourists, local beach management bodies and residents.

 

 

2024-10-30