The Blue Flag will be raised at 27 Moroccan beaches and three marinas in the summer of 2023.  This exacting international beach quality label is awarded annually under the supervision of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa.

The Blue Flag is an international ecolabel awarded by the Federation for Environmental Education.  With 30 beaches and marinas bearing the Blue Flag, Morocco, where the label was first introduced in 2002, ranks as the country with the most Blue Flags in the Arab world, and the second-most in Africa.

The Blue Flag is highly coveted by coastal communities in charge of beach management, because of the image it projects of the beach and its attractiveness to vacationers.  A total of 47 beaches applied for the label in 2023.  In December 2022, the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, together with the Direction Générale des Collectivités Territoriales (General Directorate for Local Authorities), hosted a workshop to assist local authorities in organizing and putting together their applications.  Beaches are required to comply with a variety of water quality criteria, not only the more familiar – but also many others.  The label sets out requirements relating to cleanliness, hygiene, upkeep, equipment, and safety, as well as activities and environmental awareness.  Unannounced checks are carried out throughout the season to ensure compliance with label criteria.

All 28 beaches awarded the label in 2022 successfully reclaimed their flags, with the exception of Dakhla’s Moussafir beach, which ultimately withdrew its application because of construction works scheduled on the beach this year, rendering it temporarily inaccessible.

As for marinas, following in the footsteps of Saïdia in 2018 and Est Marina Smir in 2022, Al Hoceima Marina was in turn awarded the Blue Flag in 2023.  Criteria for awarding a Blue Flag to a marina are even more exacting, particularly in terms of waste management.

The operation, due to run for the fourth time in 2023, is already a benchmark.  All Blue Flag beaches are involved, and #b7arblaplastic was designated as the best Blue Flag beach awareness-raising practice worldwide by the International Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) in 2020.  In 2023, Moroccan-labeled beaches will join the operation in collecting, sorting, and recycling waste.

#b7arblaplastic is now a United Nations Decade of Ocean Sciences 2021-2030 pilot action.  Scientists today study the significant impact of such pollution on marine flora and fauna, and consequently on human beings.

A Label for Municipalities

The Blue Flag label is awarded to local authorities.  They are in charge of all beach management matters, including upkeep, cleanliness, equipment, safety, training, awareness-raising, and accessibility.  In this considerable undertaking, they receive support from the Foundation’s “Clean Beaches” program, as well as from the Direction Générale des Collectivités Territoriales (General Directorate for Local Authorities) and other relevant government departments. Local managers are trained in beach stewardship and are provided with management and environmental awareness tools enabling them to welcome summer visitors in optimum conditions.  The Foundation assesses Blue Flag applications and carries out unannounced inspections throughout the season to ensure compliance with all label criteria.

Municipalities also receive support from the Direction Générale des Collectivités Territoriales and corporate partners enlisted by the Foundation as part of the Clean Beaches program, bringing managerial skills and financial backing.

Over one hundred beaches have signed up for the Clean Beaches program in 2023.

An International Label

The Blue Flag label was developed by the Foundation for Environmental Education in 1987.  It is the leading global beach ecolabel and is now hoisted on more than 4000 beaches and 700 marinas across 50 countries in Europe, Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.  The label’s success is built on an exacting set of criteria.  It is awarded on the strength of four sets of criteria: bathing water quality; environmental information, awareness and education; hygiene and safety; and development and management.

The Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection pioneered the Blue Flag ecolabel in Morocco in 2002, as part of its Clean Beaches program.  The Foundation’s long-term support of coastal communities helped the program steadily develop and expand initiatives to promote environmental education, protect marine environments and human health, and make beaches safer and more accessible.