RALPH WENGE, CNN ANCHOR: South Africa is waking up to the importance of protecting it's coastlines. The government is drawing up plans to develop more coastal communities while protecting the environment that provides their livelihood. South African Broadcasting Corporation has more on those changes.</s>KIM CLOETE, SABC (voice-over): South Africa's coastline is known for its scenic beauty, but many people also depend on it for their livelihood. It's estimated that as much as 35 percent of the country's gross domestic product is related in some way to the coast. A new policy for sustainable coastal development has been launched, which aims to better manage and protect South Africa's coastline.</s>VALLI MOOSA, ENVIRONMENT AFFAIRS MINISTER: For the first time, this country has a comprehensive, integrated and global policy to manage what is a 3,000 kilometer coastline.</s>CLOETE: Seven South African beaches, from South Beach in Durbin (ph) to surfer's paradise Jefrries Bay (ph) are already taking part in the blue-flag campaign. Blue flags will be awarded to local authorities along the coast that manage their beaches well. In Europe, blue-flag beaches have been shown to attract greater numbers of tourists.</s>NEIL MALAN, COASTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM: Quite often, I get tourists who sat, where's your blue flag tourism beaches? So this is something the international tourists can relate to, and it will bring revenues to those local authorities. An array of proposals for development projects to benefit some of the country's most impoverished coastal communities have been submitted to government. Kim Cloete, SABC, Capetown.
South Africa Takes Steps to Enhance Coastlines