City aims to regain
Blue Flag status
By Nangamso Mabindla
6 November 2007
BUFFALO City aims to regain Gonubie beach's lost Blue Flag status, and has called on all its partners to lend a hand.
The Blue Flag Campaign, an initiative of the Foundation for Environmental Education, is an eco-label awarded to beaches and marinas in 34 countries across Europe, and the Caribbean, as well as in South Africa, New Zealand, and Canada.
It encourages sustainable development at beaches and marinas and looks at a number of criteria, including water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management, safety and other services provided at specific beaches.
Blue Flags are awarded for one season at a time; should some criteria not be met in that season or conditions at the beach change, the Blue Flag is withdrawn. Gonubie received Blue Flag Beach status in October 2005. However, when a new list of Blue Flag beaches was released this year, Gonubie's beach was not included.
Water quality was given as the reason why Gonubie beach might have lost its status, by the City's spokesperson, Darby Gounden. "Water quality is affected by a number of factors, including sampling being done outside the municipal area due to a lack of registered sampling outlets, electricity outages leading to small spills into the ocean and polluted rivers."
She said gaining and maintaining Blue Flag status was a collective effort of communities, schools and the municipality and required ongoing community awareness, beach and river clean-ups and regular monitoring.
"The municipality, therefore, appeals to its partners to help win back Blue Flag beach status."
Gounden said the City's community services department would make every effort to win back the status, and urged residents to report anything that could be seen as a threat to Buffalo's beaches.
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