Blue Flag Beach

The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach, marina or sustainable boating tourism operator meets its stringent standards.

The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE which is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation consisting of 65 organisations in 60 member countries in Europe, Africa, Oceania, Asia, North America and South America.

FEE's Blue Flag criteria include standards for water quality, safety, environmental education and information, the provision of services and general environmental management criteria. The Blue Flag is sought for beaches, marinas and sustainable boating tourism operators as an indication of their high environmental and quality standards.

Certificates, which FEE refers to as awards, are issued on an annual basis to beaches and marinas of FEE member countries. The awards are announced yearly on 5 June for Europe, Canada, Morocco, Tunisia and other countries in a similar geographic location, and on 1 November for the Caribbean, New Zealand, South Africa and other countries in the southern hemisphere.

In the European Union, the water quality standards are incorporated in the EC Water Framework Directive.

As a result of the 2015 awards, a total of 4,154 Blue Flags are waving around the world.

The table below lists the Blue Flags (both for beaches and marinas) awarded and in force in 2015.

The table can be sorted to show the total number of Blue Flags per country and also the number of Blue Flags per population, per area or per the length of the coastline of each country.

Note: Wales, Scotland, England and Ireland have always been treated as individual countries e.g. in 2013 Ireland had 73 Blue Flag beaches and marinas, England had 55 Wales had 38 and Scotland 3.

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Wikipedia