More than 660 beach bars and 16,000 volunteers committed to their environment thanks to the Coastal Conservation Actions programme of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment

The Director General of Sustainability of the Coast and the Sea of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, Pablo Saavedra, presented today in Mallorca the results of the Coastal Conservation Actions project, which in its four editions has already committed more than 660 beach bars and 16,000 volunteers to their environment.
 
This initiative includes both the Beaches, Rivers, Volunteering and Land Stewardship Programme – which has developed different volunteering actions to conserve coastal areas – and the Responsible Beach Bars Awards – which has rewarded those establishments that have launched initiatives to improve the environment.
 
Saavedra, accompanied by the director of the Ministry’s Biodiversity Foundation, Sonia Castañeda, took stock of the activity carried out during this legislature within the framework of this programme, recalling that “more than 660 beach bars have committed to the Decalogue of Good Environmental Practices, an initiative that aims to guide beach bars in improving the management of space and resources”, he stressed.
 
“RESPONSIBLE BEACH BARS” AWARDS
To support compliance with the Decalogue, the “Responsible Beach Bar Awards” were created, which recognize the work carried out by beachfront hospitality establishments to improve their efficiency and relationship with the environment. In the three editions held so far, 175 beach bars have already participated, which have developed nearly 300 initiatives to preserve coastal areas.
 
These prizes have distributed 53,500 euros in prizes among the 18 winners of the three previous editions. For the fourth edition, which has received more than 80 nominations belonging to seven of the ten coastal Autonomous Communities, 9,000 euros will be distributed in six prizes. One of them, the “Special Mention of the Public”, will be chosen by the customers themselves, who will be able to recognize through the social network Facebook the work of the finalist beach bars for this category.  
 
INITIATIVE EXPORTED
Saavedra has visited the Es Dolç beach bar, located in the town of Ses Salines (Mallorca), first prize in the III Edition of the Responsible Beach Bar Awards (2014) for selective collection of waste and oils, distribution of ashtrays, installation of a photovoltaic solar panel, km 0 policy, implementation of an Environmental Management System in accordance with the UNE-EN ISO 14001 standard and first beach bar certified in EMAS in Spain.
 
In addition, the Director General recalled that the most recent novelty is the good reception of this initiative abroad, since Cyprus will soon launch the campaign of responsible beach bars with the same philosophy and image as the program coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
 
With this initiative, the Ministry promotes a development model that encourages employment and activities that are carried out in a sustainable way. It is, therefore, a matter of preventing uses of the coast that harm its environmental protection, and of facilitating the development of those activities that are carried out in an environmentally responsible manner.
 
In this way, people and private entities that carry out their activity on the coast become collaborating agents of the administration in the protection of the environment.
 
MORE THAN 350 VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES
During the visit, Pablo Saavedra also witnessed the volunteering activity carried out by the Balearic Ornithological and Natural Defence Group-GOB Mallorca on the beach of Es Dolç, within the framework of the Beaches, Rivers, Volunteering and Land Stewardship Programme.
 
This entity has participated in the program since 2012 carrying out actions on the beaches of Mallorca related to the improvement and restoration of the dunes, elimination of exotic species and the removal of marine waste and litter. In total, they have mobilized about 200 volunteers in the days organized within the framework of this Program.
 
BEACHES, RIVERS, VOLUNTEERING AND LAND STEWARDSHIP
The Beaches, Rivers, Volunteering and Land Stewardship Program has been developing, since 2012, beach and river conservation activities through volunteering. The activities carried out in the coastal and river area have focused on waste collection, reforestation, elimination of invasive species, monitoring of species and training and awareness days in all the autonomous communities. The initiatives, organised by an annual average of 40 land stewardship entities, have had the participation of more than 16,000 volunteers.
 
During the 2014 edition, 220 volunteer activities were carried out through 40 projects on beaches and rivers nationwide with the collaboration of 5,700 volunteers. The adhesion in 2014 to the European initiative Lets Clean Up Europe, on waste prevention and generation, had 1,000 volunteers who removed 32 tons of waste.
 
Other conservation activities that have been developed are volunteer days coinciding with the Second European Land Stewardship Week and participation in the I Decathlon Day of cleaning beaches, trails and rivers, with the assistance of 200 volunteers.
 
MORE THAN 40 PROPOSALS THIS YEAR WITH MORE THAN 5,000 VOLUNTEERS
As for the 2015 edition, more than 40 proposals have been received from 37 land stewardship entities within the framework of the Beaches, Rivers, Volunteering and Land Stewardship Programme, in which the participation of more than 5,000 volunteers is expected.
 
The aim of the programme is to involve citizens in the conservation of the coastline and the areas that make up the inter-community watersheds, establishing a network of volunteers for the maintenance and improvement of these spaces through volunteering days.