Are eco-labels sustainable? Beach certification schemes in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

Beach certification schemes (BCSs) have been designed to bridge the gap between recreation and conservation. However, there is no evidence supporting their effectiveness as tools for achieving a high level of sustainability. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of nine BCSs in Latin America and the Caribbean, based on indicators of sustainable development and integrated coastal management. For this purpose, a list of 27 objectives with 62 indicators was compiled and each scheme's effectiveness was measured by testing 95 requirements found in BCSs against the indicators. The results indicate that the analyzed schemes have low levels of effectiveness. The most effective certification complies with 60% of the indicators, while the average compliance level is only 33%. The weak areas of beach certifications involve, monitoring, management and planning, stakeholder participation, and conflict resolution. A few of the schemes were found to be moderately successful in these areas, but the less effective BCSs focused primarily on amenities and visitor satisfaction. It was found that the effectiveness of the BCSs could be increased by addressing their main weaknesses in a cost-effective manner through the hybridization of environmental management systems and benchmark certifications, and by implementing compliance standards based on beach type.

生态标签可持续发展吗？拉丁美洲与加勒比海滩认证计划

海滩认证计划（BCSs）一直被认为是沟通旅游娱乐与保护的桥梁。然而，仍然没有证据证明这计划能成为达到可持续高水平发展的有效工具。此论文评估了在拉丁美洲和加勒比地区的9个海滩认证计划的有效性，评估方式建立在可持续发展和整合性海岸管理的指示上。出于此项目的，论文汇编了带有62个指标的27个目标，每个机制的效用通过测试95个要求来衡量，这95个要求是在BCSs中针对62个指标的。结果表明，这些机制的效用水平较低。最有效的认证符合60%的指标，但是平均符合水平只有33%。海滩认证的薄弱环节包括主导，管理和计划，利益相关者参与和争议解决。一些机制在这个方面是很成功的，但是较低效用的认证计划主要集中在便利设施和游客满意度上。调查发现，海滩认证计划效用的增加可以通过解决成本有效方式的主要薄弱点，这种方式是环境管理和基准测试认证的混合体。效用增加还可以根据海滩的类型，通过执行符合要求的标准。

Keywords:

• beach certification
• eco-labeling
• effectiveness
• indicators
• Latin America
• coastal management

关键词:

• 海滩认证
• 生态标签
• 效用
• 指示
• 拉丁美洲
• 和海滩管理

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Seweryn Zielinski

Seweryn Zielinski is a PhD candidate in forest sciences at Seoul National University, Korea. He holds a bachelor degree in international tourism management and consultancy from NHTV University of Applied Sciences in The Netherlands and a master's degree in ocean and coastal integrated management from IUSS in Italy. His research interests and publications focus on sustainable tourism, ecotourism, protected area management, beach management, and certification schemes.

Camilo Botero

Dr Camilo Botero is the director of the Coastal Systems Research Group and an associate researcher at Sergio Arboleda University in Santa Marta, Colombia. He has teaches a wide range of marine-related topics at various universities in Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. His research concentrates on coastal and marine issues, with special focus on BCSs, beach management, and marine and coastal governance.