engleski

Internet. http://www.blueflag.org.

In 1987 the first "Blue Flag" begin to flutter on one of the French beaches signifying the especially clean beach with the approved purity of bathing water. Since then, in only seventeen years, the “ Blue Flag” has become a widespread global standardised eco label in, both, Europe and world-wide. Today, the eco label "Blue Flag" is given to more than two thousand beaches and more than seven hundred marinas worldwide, mostly in the European Mediterranean region that is the leading tourism destination in Europe. Information about those beaches and marinas could be found at the web address: http://www.blueflag.org. Importantly, the web site also contains a list of criteria that have to be met in order to be given this, by now considered, prestigious eco label award. Nowadays, more than ever, protection of coastal areas is essential for further tourism development, given that more than a half of a world's population lives within 60 km of the coastline. Therefore, world's coastal areas are exposed to rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, and, subsequently, face the threat of devastation and pollution. At the same time, the coastal areas are the principle resources for the tourism industry and unmanaged or unplanned development can significantly reduce the tourism appeal of the coastal areas. It is not surprising then that many international organisations constantly undertake various programmes encouraging sustainable tourism development and coastal protection. The United Nations Environment Programme is one of them that was initiated in 1975. In 1981, the UNEP supported establishment of the special Foundation for Environmental Education in Europe - FEEE which has in in 2001 become a global organisation - the Foundation for Environment Education, by operating in Europe, America, Africa and in the other parts of world. The main task of that organisation is to promote environmental education by carrying out various awareness campaigns. With the headquarter in Denmark, the FEE today runs five major educational environmental eco campaigns: the Blue Flag Campaign, Eco-Schools, Young Reporters for the Environment, Learning about Forests (LEAF) and Green Key. For the tourism industry of the greatest importance is the Blue Fag campaign. Thus, the UNEP program and the FEE are equally responsible for implementation of this quality system for evaluating beaches and marinas. At this moment, 24 countries are included in Blue Flag campaign (Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and United Kingdom, followed by South Africa) and 13 others intend to join (Canada, Chile, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, and five Caribbean countries). Interests for implementation of the Blue Flag was also expressed by Australia, Argentina and USA. In the European Mediterranean basin two-thirds of all awarded beaches worldwide are concentrated. More than one third of all awarded beaches in 2003 (2093 beaches) are in Spain (370) and in Greece (363), followed by the other Mediterranean countries: France (258), Italy (159), Turkey (140), Croatia (58) and Cyprus (39). Their names, together with the names for the awarded marinas, and their geographical location in the particular country could be found at this web-address. The award of the European Blue Flag beach is based on compliance with 27 criteria covering the aspects of water quality, coastal quality, recreational management, services and safety management, as well as environmental education and information. Details about these strict criteria and suitable organisations that evaluate beaches and marinas in a particular country can also be found on their web-site. Namely, in each member country there is the specific national organisation that represents the FEE and the Blue Flag campaign at national level, and from this web site it is possible to contact them directly. Furthermore, it has to be stressed out, that the Blue Flag eco label has seasonal character, and that evaluation process has to be repeated every year, what means the there is a constant monitoring of those beaches and marinas that are already awarded by the Blue Flag. Therefore, those in charge of beach and marina management have to take continuous care to maintain these resources to a high standard required by the Blue Label criteria. In this manner, the Blue Label promote sustainable management of the coastal area ensuring that they are maintained for the enjoyment of future generations and, subsequently, ensuring the quality resource for the further development of tourism industry. In summary, the site is of great value to several interesting parties. Firstly, those interesting to obtain the Blue Flag award can find here the list of criteria that have to be fulfilled in order to be awarded by this eco label. Secondly, for the local government there are detailed instructions about the application procedures for the participating countries as well as for those that are located in the non-FEE member countries. Finally, for the potential tourists sensitive to the quality of beach waters and marina, information is provided about these high standard beaches and marinas in Europe as well as in some other countries.

Internet; blue flag

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