Nova Scotia has received its first Blue Flag status beach.

The certification is awarded to beaches around the world that meet certain environmental standards and Birch Cove Beach in Dartmouth has made the cut, although some people are wondering why.

Birch Cove Beach can be found in Dartmouth on Lake Banook, a spot well known for paddling.

“It’s a gorgeous park,” says one visitor. “I love the park.”

Blue Flag is a prestigious eco-label for beaches and marinas that have achieved international standards in water quality, environment management, education safety and services.

“It’s really a clean lake, one of the cleanest in the city, one of the biggest ones,” says one user.

However, the beach has been closed to swimmers a few times over the past few years due to higher-than-normal bacteria levels.

Blue Flag says part of the certification process includes analyzing the water quality data at the beach for four years.

“Although there have been a couple of postings, they’ve actually consistently had really great quality water testing, so they are actually above and beyond Blue Flag standards,” says Blue Flag spokesperson Brett Tryon.

An official celebration will be held later this month to publicly recognize the beach’s international designation. At that time, a blue flag will be raised and flown at the beach to symbolize its new environmental status.

Beachgoer Jane Bradshaw says was a bit surprised to hear of the designation as she often calls city maintenance crews to cut the grass, empty the garbage cans and clean up broken glass. She says despite many improvements, more work needs to be done.

“Well, I am surprised because there is a lot of work that needs to be done to the park,” says Bradshaw. “They don’t maintain what they put in so there isn’t much point and spending all the money to put new things in if you’re not going to look after it.”

Coun. Gloria McCluskey pushed for the Blue Flag status. She says she’s proud Birch Cove is the first beach in Nova Scotia to receive the designation.

“People can look at that and see that it is a Blue Flag beach, which means it is a clean beach, good water and well maintained,” says McCluskey.

If the beach is kept that way, it will maintain its Blue Flag status year after year.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl