By Nangamso Mabindla
21 October 2004

GONUBIE Beach has received the much-coveted Blue Flag award - an internationally recognised symbol that shows the beach is of international standard in terms of water quality, safety and services.

And two Grade 9 East London pupils, Caillin Mathiassen and Alex Linde from Hudson Park High School in Vincent, are undertaking a project to find ways to ensure other beaches around East London - particularly the more popular Orient Beach - get Blue Flag status.

Mathiassen says Blue Flag status is an eco-label campaign initiated by the Foundation for Environmental Education and is aimed at rewarding beaches that work towards sustainable development.

About 2 900 beaches in 24 countries around the world have been awarded the status - with Gonubie Beach being the only one in East London.

For beaches to receive Blue Flag status they need to comply with four main criteria: water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management, and safety and services.

"All Blue Flags are only awarded for one season at a time," Linde points out, adding: "If some criteria are not fulfilled during the season or the conditions change, the Blue Flag will be withdrawn."

The two high school pupils are planning to interview all the major role players involved in the development, maintenance and use of the beaches. "We'd like to interview important role players and discover what input we can make towards highlighting problems and educate local communities on the importance of keeping our beaches clean," says Mathiassen.

The community needs to be educated on the importance of keeping the city's main beaches, like the Eastern Beach on the Esplanade, clean.

"The municipality should involve local schools in educational programmes," says Mathiassen. "Educational talks could be given encouraging beach and river clean-ups."

The municipality could also initiate projects encouraging beach clean-ups with participants being rewarded for their efforts.

Linde says that if more East London beaches achieve Blue Flags, there will be many benefits for the city and its citizens. "East London would be registered with travel agents worldwide and this would impact on the city's economy as people would come to the beaches and therefore support our places of accommodation."