Spot a blue flag on the beach? What it says about water quality...
Frequent beachgoers, you might want to take note of this one.
Lester Kiewit speaks to Cindy-Lee Cloete, CEO of WESSA (Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa).
Listen below.
The Blue Flag certification is an international award for beaches, marinas and sustainable boat tourism operators who can meet stringent environmental, educational, safety-related and access-related criteria.
South Africa has 48 Blue Flag beaches and 23 pilot beaches on their way to becoming one.
South Africa through WESSA was the first country outside of Europe to implement the Blue Flag program.
The Blue Flag program looks at coastal development and marine protection along the coastline with 33 stringent criteria speaking to water quality.
"It's important to note that the Blue Flag program is premised on long-term solutions for current issues too... So we've got issues like loadshedding, breaking pumps, over capacitated systems which also affects the nature of coastal systems."
- Cindy-Lee Cloete, CEO - WESSA
Blue Flags may be taken down if the water quality does not meet the official requirements for a Blue Flag Beach.
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.