Adaptation to Climate Change and Watersheds will hold a new position within the Interinstitutional Program, the ecological Blue Flag, after the signing of two executive decrees that will set up these new categories. They were signed by the President of the Republic, Oscar Arias Sánchez, honorary witness.
The presentation of these awards by the president wouldn’t be possible without the National Blue Flag Commission and local committees, nor would it be possible without the effort of every community, school, business, and family that has dedicated itself to the endeavor.
“The protection of our environment is not a personal, national, or global responsibility. Problems in one area of the world affect us all. It is easy to see that deforestation on one coast creates floods inland; over-fishing in one part of the world affects the whole food chain; gases released in one part of the world creates global warming everywhere. In my government we created the Peace with Nature initiative to confront deforestation, the depletion of water systems, species extinction, and global warming. We need to do something soon or the day will come when resources will be so scarce, and the planet will be so beyond repair that no other type of peace will be possible. The existence and merit of this distinction that Blue Flag offers tells us the conviction of whether or not the future of Costa Rica will be green weighs heavily on the national conscience,” said Oscar Arias, president of the republic.
The signing of both documents took place in Puntarenas during the presentation of 308 awards to 33 communities, 10 natural protected zones, 59 beaches, and, symbolically, to 22 education centers that merited it.
Present at the event, besides the President, were the ministers: Carlos Ricardo Benavides (Tourism), Roberto Dobles (Environment and Energy), Maria Luisa Ávila (Health), Silvia Víquez (Vice Minister of Education), and executive presidents, Ricardo Sancho (Water and Sewage) as well as Pedro Pablo Quirós (Costa Rica Electric Company).
According to Ricardo Sancho, Executive President of the Aqueducts and Sewage Institute (AYA), the program is “presently the most important environmental measure in the country, it is the diploma of water protection and a measuring stick for pollution levels in beaches as well as schools and communities. It also represents a challenge for the winners because, from here on out; they must promote sustainability and will be the ones responsible for making sure that the population and development proceed hand in hand and in harmony with the environment. On World Water day, Blue Flag is a good platform to introduce the idea of anti-pollution on the national agenda and in the lives of all Costa Ricans.
María Luisa Ávila, Minister of Health pointed out that this is a key program with respect to the environment and health because of the impact that it has on the quality of rivers and beaches as well as the security it provides to a community in terms of halting the spread of diseases.
The highest grade this year was Playa Blancas in Punta Leona with four stars, followed by Manuel Antonio and Espadilla Sur with three stars. In the case of EARTH communities, Pocora earned three stars while Punta Leona de Garabito, San Roque de Grecia and La Fortuna de San Carlos all earned two stars.
With respect to Education centers that received the flag, those from the Aguirre canton stood out with three stars: Cóbano Professional Technical College, Pacific Ecotourism College and Las Nubes bilingual schools; Promecun La Inmaculada and the one in Portalón.
Alejandrina Mata, Vice Minister of Education, pointed out that in regards to Education Centers, there are two values that the program takes into consideration, “The first is the impact of the institutions as a whole, from caretakers, secretaries, and students, to donors and parents that become involved in the preservation of natural resources; the other is that it foments talk of environmental issues in the education system, which means, the program becomes a tool that seeks collaboration toward a real Blue Flag goal, formally or informally. For the Ministry of Public Education (MEP), Blue Flag is an agent of change in the environmental education system.”
Regarding environmental tourism, the Minister of Tourism, Carlos Ricardo Benavides emphasized the support of the Costa Rica Tourism Institute (ICT) for the program because it is considered fundamental for keeping the beaches clean and involving the communities, education centers, organizations and tourist businesses to sustain these resources.
“From the ICT stand point, we will continue working with the Ecological Blue Flag program to base our policies on sustainable tourism. We consider it crucial to keep our beaches clean, to control and treat industrial and domestic waste that are dumped in the sea, to raise the awareness of community citizens, hotels owners, town chambers and associations of these zones so that they come together to conserve our resources and keep them attractive for our visitors,” said Carlos Ricardo Benavides, Tourism minister.
Likewise, Gonzalo Vargas, president of the National Chamber of Tourism, emphasized the effort that the communities, beaches, education centers, and natural reserves make to implement solid environmental practices tend to improve the tourist product: “It is extremely important for the country to make sustainability the primary tool for Costa Rica. There is no doubt that the clean beaches have a competitive edge over those that are not. The country as a whole must make the effort to be able to offer this advantage to complete the tourist package.
Darner Mora, director of the Ecological Blue Flag program, pointed out that in the twelve year of the programs existence, the main objective has been to monitor water resources that empty on to the beaches through the rivers, and to get coastal as well as inland communities and education centers involved.
“The creation of the sixth category is to adapt ourselves to climate change and create opportunities so that other citizens participate by lowering their electricity consumption, or planting trees. Blue Flag is a program that takes into consideration everyone’s opinion of how to improve the environment and public health,” stated Mora.
News From: I.C.T www.visitcostarica.com