Costa Rica beats it own record today with the beaches of Virador, Nacascolo, Blanca, Sombrero and Prieta all being awarded the countries prestigious ecological blue flag awards. This brings the grand total of beaches in Costa Rica having earned the honor to 138, the largest number recorded to date for Costa Rica.
The Ecological Blue Flag program was started by the Costa Rican government in 2008 as a way to help local communities stay in charge of the cleanliness of their own beach communities.
Awards are based on 8 main different categories.
- Microbiological quality of the seawater – 35%
- Water quality for human consumption – 15%
- Health quality of the coasts – 15%
- Garbage and garbage dumps – 10%
- Industrial discharges treated – 5%
- Wastewater treated – 15%
- Environmental education – 10%
- Security and administration – 10%
For more information check out https://www.ict.go.cr/en/sustainability/ecologic-blue-flag-program.html#criteria
