A recognition in defense of the one set and the health
The official delivery of the Ecological Blue Flag awards took place last March 25th. Several governmental personalities were present in this activity, such as: Dr. Oscar Arias Sanchez, President of the Republic, Ricardo Sancho Chavarr�a, Executive President of AyA, Carlos Benavides, Minister of the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism, Darner Mora, Director of the National Water Laboratory and Executive Director of the Program Ecological Blue Flag, representatives of other public institutions, beaches, communities and educational centers with Ecological Blue Flag.
Taking a look at the past, we can retail that the Ecological Blue Flag Program impelled by AyA in coordination with other public institutions, municipalities and private enterprises, started with the primary objective of stimulating and motivating the coastal communities to protect the beaches in Costa Rica in an integral way, thus, guaranteeing the tourists and inhabitants a final product capable of satisfying the demands and expectations concerning high quality hygiene, security and potable water coverage, of those who visit and live in the place.
These communities took the challenge and organized themselves to administer and to watch for the sanitary quality of beaches, upholding the establishment of a system of potable water provision in the coastal zones, to prevent and to eliminate the exposition of organic matters, to control and promote the treatment of the industrial and domestic remainders that are unloaded in the sea water, to impel the education of beaches by guiding the tourist, to pro-mote the monitoring, the first aid and the police security with the purpose of improving the quality of life of the inhabitants.
The excellent results of the PBAE have allowed the extension of its objectives; for that reason, in the year 2002, this program was extended to non coastal communities with the purpose of diminishing the contamination of the hydro resources, which, at the end, always end up taking all the remainders to the sea, affecting the quality of the beaches. These communities will also administer the natural resources in an integral way.
In the 2004 PBAE again extended the category of this award granting it also to the educative centers, programs of basic cleaning, environmental education and the integral attention of the health, in order to transfer a philosophy of cleanliness and hygiene to its physical structures, but mainly to the consciences of all the children. In the year 2006 and due to the initiative of Costa Rican Network of Private Natural Reserves, the fourth denominated category was created and denominated as Natural Protected Spaces with the objective of stimulating the protection and increase' of the wooded zones and to preserve, in this way, the factories of natural water.
There is no doubt that the main tourist resource with which the country counts on is its nature; consequently, all the efforts that have been displayed by the communities, mainly the coastal ones, deserve a special recognition. This effort is a clear sample that it is possible to have a healthy coexistence between tourism and natural resources to be able to obtain fine benefits from the tourist activity, protecting, at the same time, the environment that furnishes this industry with its great attraction.
The Board of Directors emphasized that the works carried out within the Blue Flag Organization have not only allowed to grade the involved sectors but also to collaborate in the battle against 'dengue' and to plant native species of trees in diverse zones of the country, which contributes to the preservation of water sources. Among the expectations of the strategic plan 2007-2012 of the PBAE the following can be outlined:
- To implement one organic structure that can allow this plan to take care of the accelerated growth of participants within the program.
- To certify by means of 9001 norm ISO the management of the program.
- To establish an alliance with the Foundation for the Environmental Education of Europe with which it is managed to certify beaches and navies at world-wide level.
Winning Beaches
Conchal
Bah�a Junquillal (R.N.V.S)
Ocotal
Grande
Hermosa
Flamingo
Pan de Az�car
Monte del Barco
Junquillal
Punta Islita
Carrillo
Punta El Madero (PNMB)
Arenilla
Panam�
Pelada de Nosara
Guiones de Nosara
Ostional (RNVS)
Langosta (PNMB)
Mancita
Bonita
Avellanas
Penca
Ecotourism and Nature 
