• launching of a national Blue Flag National Workshop
• establishing a National Committee (comprising of relevant authorities and stakeholders)
• conducting a country Feasibility Study (to confirm the suitability of the UAE for the programme)
• revision of criteria (to identify any necessary modifications to the criteria)
• launching the Blue Flag Pilot phase (a beach and marina is selected as a pre-launch pilot project)
• running the programme at the national level.
• The national coordinator (EWS-WWF ) then receives applications from willing beaches and marinas and supports them to qualify for the Blue Flag award.
Name of project: Blue Flag
Period: October 2008 - ongoing
Period: October 2008 - ongoing
Summary
The Blue Flag is a voluntary eco-label awarded to beaches and marinas. The programme is run by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), a non-profit, non-governmental organisation with member organizations in 55 countries. Currently, the programme covers 3,450 beaches and marinas in 41 countries across Europe, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada and the Caribbean.Blue Flag works towards sustainable development at beaches and marinas through strict criteria dealing with water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management, and safety and other services.
The Blue Flag Programme includes environmental education and information for the public, decision makers and tourism operators.
EWS-WWF has been accepted as the National coordinators to run the Blue Flag programme in the UAE.
Objectives
Establishment of Blue flag in the UAE involves the following main stages:- launching of a national Blue Flag National Workshop
- establishing a National Committee (comprising of relevant authorities and stakeholders)
- conducting a country Feasibility Study (to confirm the suitability of the UAE for the programme)
- revision of criteria (to identify any necessary modifications to the criteria)
- launching the Blue Flag Pilot phase (a beach and marina is selected as a pre-launch pilot project)
- running the programme at the national level.
- The national coordinator (EWS-WWF) then receives applications from willing beaches and marinas and supports them to qualify for the Blue Flag award.
