On Wednesday 15th September, The Yacht Harbour Association (TYHA) welcomed members and invited guests to the launch of the TYHA Clean Marina programme.
As gatekeepers to our oceans and waterways, marinas recognise the importance of doing all they can to ensure their operations do not pollute our coastal and inland waters; Clean Marina is designed to help them with this objective.
Jon White, TYHA General Manager went on to explain how the Clean Marina program began in Australasia though our partner organisation the MIA and that today TYHA are launching Clean Marina in the UK, Europe and the Middle East.
TYHA’s initial focus for Clean Marina is to help marinas get the basics right such as blackwater capture and treatment, correctly managing segregated and hazardous waste, spill prevention and treatment, washdown capture and filtration, drain interception, using sustainable products and preventing plastic pollution, and of course, influencing tenants, contractors and boaters to be more sustainable too.
Marinas do not consider sustainability a competitive aspect of their business and therefore are very open to sharing what they learn with others to help the entire industry protect our oceans and waterways.
The sharing of best practice with all our members is therefore at the heart of Clean Marina. Much of the knowledge and expertise that our industry needs however will not necessarily come from within therefore working with other expert organisations is central to the success of Clean Marina.
TYHA are therefore very pleased to be working with the Green Blue (Kate Fortnam), British Marine, RYA (Phil Horton), World Sailing, the Final Straw Foundation (Bianca Carr) and Fauna & Flora International (Anni Sharp).
To help us share all of this best practice we’re pleased that TYHA Members, Harbour Assist are supporting us to do this (Rachel Hibbard).
In addition to the sharing of best practice we have also developed a Clean Marina accreditation standard which TYHA have recently been piloting with the Boatfolk group, with thanks to the Boatfolk team for their support in doing this. This pilot work further emphasised the important role marinas have in influencing the sustainability practices of boat owners which reinforces the value of working with the Green Blue and other experts.
The Clean Marina Launch saw discussions shared from Kate Fortnam of the Green Blue and Ben Lippiett, Manager of Boatfolk Haslar Marina and group sustainability leader.
The launch led onto the presentation of 3 Clean Marina accreditations, presented by the TYHA Chairman, Colin Watts to: Boatfolk, Portland Marina / Haslar Marina & Portishead Marina.
TYHA would like to thank everyone that attended the Clean Marina launch and hope that you found it informative and that you will join TYHA in helping marinas to be more sustainable. Should you require any further information please contact Hayley Cloke TYHA Gold Anchor & Clean Marina Executive on: hcloke@britishmarine.co.uk