[Fwd: Caribbean - Blue Flag Programme Cooperation]

> At 8:35 PM -0400 5/31/01, Mabel Sanabria wrote:
>
> > Caribbean Blue Flag Campaign
> >(BARBADOS, May 30, 2001) The Caribbean Conservation Association
> >(CCA), Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), Caribbean Alliance for
> >Sustainable Tourism (CAST) and the Quality Tourism for the Caribbean
> >(QTC) established a regional consortium responsible for the
> >implementation of the Caribbean Blue Flag (CBF) Campaign. The newly
> >formed consortium has received the formal approval from the
> >Foundation for Environmental Education in Europe (FEEE) and the
> >generous support of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The
> >work of the consortium will be lead by CTO, and will also receive
> >the technical support of UNEP and FEEE.
> >
> >
> >Blue Flag (BF) is a voluntary certification scheme for beaches and
> >marinas operating in Europe by the Foundation for Environmental
> >Education in Europe (FEEE) since middle 80's. It has proven to be
> >effective as an environmental tool to enhance safety management and
> >environmental quality of beaches and marinas.
> >
> >The consortium met at CTO's offices in Barbados to discuss the
> >inter-agency agreement, working relationship with FEEE and a working
> >plan for the establishment of the Caribbean Blue Flag Campaign.
> >The working plan is divided into two main phases: draft criteria and
> >the pilot phase.
> >
> >The criteria will be developed by the consortium in consultation
> >with Caribbean countries and FEEE to reflect the environmental as
> >well as social and cultural conditions of the region. The criteria
> >address four areas: Water Quality, Environmental Education and
> >Information, Environmental Management and Safety and Services.
> >Special consideration will be given to regional standards including
> >the already adopted water quality standards of the Aruba Protocol of
> >Land Based Sources and Activities of Marine Pollution of the
> >Cartagena Convention.
> >
> >In the pilot phase, scheduled to launch in October, 2001, the
> >criteria will be tested at selected beaches in several countries. A
> >final set of criteria will be developed based on the experiences of
> >the pilot beaches and a full fledged Caribbean Blue Flag Campaign
> >will then be launched.
> >
> >The establishment of the inter-agency consortium for the CBFC is the
> >main outcome of the Feasibility Evaluation Workshop held in Puerto
> >Rico in December 1999 organized by UNEP, WTO and FEEE which was
> >attended by environmental and tourism stakeholders from Dominican
> >Republic, Barbados, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Puerto Rico, St
> >Kitts & Nevis and St Lucia. A feasibility study was done under the
> >coordination of CAST confirmed the capacity of the region to
> >undertake this initiative.
> >
> >CAST is a subsidiary of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) whose
> >mission is to support Caribbean hoteliers in effective management of
> >their environmental resources and to market the Caribbean as a world
> >leader in the sustainable tourism effort. CAST has worked to bring
> >sustainable tourism awareness to the forefront of every agenda in
> >the private and public sectors in the region, and has achieved much
> >success in these endeavors. Through projects, training, research
> >and advocacy, CAST has become a vital component to meeting the
> >standards set forth by Agenda 21, a blueprint for securing the
> >sustainable future of the planet into the 21st century.
> >
> >
> >For more information about the Caribbean Blue Flag Campaign, contact
> >Mercedes Silva at CTO msilva@caribsurf.com
> ><<mailto:msilva@caribsurf.com>mailto:msilva@caribsurf.com>
> >246-427-5242 and for more information about the Blue Flag Campaign
> >in general, visit www.blueflag.org
Received on Sun Jun 3 19:26:11 2001