Panaji, Dec 14 (IANS) Goa, a popular beach tourism destination battling the effects of climate change, will host a sand art festival with global warming as its central theme, a tourism department official here said Monday.

With sand erosion rampant and the rise in the sea water level threatening 10 percent of Goa's 105-km coastal stretch, the official said the three-day Goa sand art festival, starting Dec 18, would help in dissemination of information about the global warming phenomenon.

'A lot of our beaches are already eroding, both in north and south Goa. Nature is taking its toll. Global warming is causing the water levels to rise ominously,' vice chairman of the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) Lyndon Monteiro told reporters.

'It is our duty as a government and as a citizen to make people aware of the problem and contain it,' Monteiro said.

The festival would be held at Candolim beach, 15 km from here. It will feature 11 sculptures which will highlight the theme of global warming.

Candolim beach is one of the worst affected by rise in sea level and the presence of a cargo vessel M.V. River Princess, which beached here during a monsoon storm a decade ago.

Over 10 years, nearly 1.1 km of beach along the Candolim-Sinquerim stretch has already eroded.

'Candolim has borne the twin brunt of global warming and the River Princess. Another reason why we decided on this beach was because the quality of sand there is conducive to sand sculptures,' Monteiro said, adding that the festival would be a regular feature on the state's tourism itinerary henceforth.

'It will be a much bigger event next year. It will further encourage people to come to Goa's beaches,' Monteiro said.

Goa annually attracts approximately two million tourists, of whom 450,000 are foreigners.