30 April 2009

About the Green Blue – Creating environmental awareness

The Green Blue is an exciting environmental awareness initiative by the British Marine Federation and the Royal Yachting Association.  The aim is to promote the sustainable use of coastal and inland waters by boating and watersports participants, and the sustainable operation and development of the recreational boating industry.

The Green Blue hopes to educate and inform the recreational boating community, about our environmental impacts, emphasising how you can avoid or minimise these impacts, by taking a few incremental steps.

The Green Blue is for everyone who enjoys getting out on the water, or whose livelihood depends on boats and watersports. By working towards an environmentally self-regulating boating community, we can save money, avoid red tape and safeguard the waters and habitats we enjoy for the future.

The programme consists of academic research, information provision and practical projects, focusing on 6 impact areas:

• Oil and Fuel
• Cleaning and Maintenance
• Anti-fouling and Marine Paints
• Waste Management
• Resource Efficiency
• Effects on Wildlife 

The Green Blue objectives are:

• To provide more readily available information to industry and users about potential environmental impacts of recreational watersports and effective mitigation measures.
• To raise awareness of how users can purchase, maintain and use their craft and equipment in an environmentally responsible manner.
• To promote sustainable boating so that increases in participation figures and the size of the recreational marine industry are achievable while minimising environmental degradation
• To encourage the design and production of innovative environmentally friendly products, facilities and processes within the recreational marine industry
• To raise awareness of the interaction with the local environment amongst providers of marine services and amongst watersports participants
• To work with partners, authorities and managers to raise awareness and appreciation of coastal and inland water environments

Sadly The Green Blue does not have the resources to assist individual commercial developments with environmental assessments/planning applications.

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