A global programme recognising hotels and coastlines with high eco-friendly standards and practices within their daily operations has spurred several enterprises in Aqaba to aspire to that challenge.

The Green Key and Blue Flag initiatives, two Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) programmes, were recently introduced to the southern port city by the Jordan Royal Marine Conservation Society (JREDS).

The country's marine environmental authority, which became an FEE member in June, was appointed to implement the programmes here.

JREDS Executive Director Fadi Sharaiha said the initiative, which encourages eco-friendly standards at both hotels and beaches, is an important part of the developing tourism industry in Aqaba.

"We want to encourage the hospitality industry to step up environment-friendly strategies within their daily operations and improve the quality of the coastal environment too," he told The Jordan Times over the phone.

"It makes good business for them and promotes tourism while also protecting the environment from the increasing investments here," Sharaiha added.

The Green Key programme is an eco-label for tourism facilities that aims to contribute to prevention of climate change and sustainable tourism by awarding and promoting good initiatives. It aims to change the practices and behaviours of tourism actors including enterprises, authorities guests and local communities, and to involve them in increasing their responsibility towards their own environment.

These facilities have to show that they have adopted environmentally sound practices and strategies within their operations in line with standardised international criteria, which are mandatory in each country, as well as more specialised national criteria, adjusted to national legislation, infrastructure and culture.

The criteria focus on environmental management, technical demands, and the involvement of guests, staff and suppliers, and cover fields such as water, waste, energy, environmental management, use of chemicals and open spaces, and food and beverages.

The award is voluntarily applied for and granted for one year at a time, during which control visits are made to check that certain standards are upheld and that all criteria are met.

This is the first time the programme has been introduced in the Middle East, with JREDS appointed as the national organisation certified to award the eco-label in the region.

Sharaiha said JREDS has already approached several hotels in Aqaba and three hotels have expressed interest.

"Their applications are in the process of being audited and hopefully by springtime we are going to announce the first two or three hotels awarded the Green Key eco-label in Jordan," he added.

Many major hotel chains around the world have been going green by adopting economically and environmentally sound practices and management schemes. These include saving energy and water to minimise the impact on the environment while also reducing energy costs. For example, some hotels have begun providing guests with the option of reusing their bath towels instead of washing daily, reducing laundry cycles and water usage.

Sharaiha said these practices are just one avenue for trying to promote awareness of the environment and it is also a good marketing tool that attracts selective tourists, who also care about the environment.

JREDS will also be implementing the Blue Flag programme, a voluntary eco-label awarded to beaches and marinas that embrace high standards of environmental protection within their site management and encourage similar attitudes from the public.

The award is based on 27 criteria for beaches and 16 criteria for marinas dealing with water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management and safety and services.

As the campaign's managing organisation, FEE, along with national and international controllers, carries out checks during the Blue Flag season to ensure that the criteria are being met.

If problems are found, the flag is withdrawn until they are fixed and if the problem is very serious or is not fixed within a given period of time, then the flag is withdrawn for the rest of the season.

The fact that the Blue Flag is awarded a season at a time ensures countries work hard at sustaining these conditions.

Shariaha said they are looking at one hotel beach and another area to be certified as first Blue Flag in the region, but are still in the process of developing national criteria for the programme which he expects will be completed at the end of the year.

He noted that the Aqaba Development Corporation is interested in sponsoring the Blue Flag.

More than 3,200 beaches and marinas in 37 countries have been awarded the eco-label.

Another programme slated for implementation is FEE's Eco-schools, which works to raise awareness about sustainability issues through various academic subjects and activities at schools.

Students learn about issues such as climate change, litter and waste, biodiversity, water and healthy living as part of the programme which involves teachers, students and their parents.

Sharaiha said the programme will provide students with a more hands-on and holistic approach to environmental issues.

Established in 1981, FEE is an international umbrella organisation that promotes sustainable development through environmental education. It currently runs five programmes: Blue Flag, Green Key, Eco-schools, LEAF and Young Reporters for the Environment. It has 64 member organisations in 56 countries Europe, North and South America, Africa and Oceania.