Improv­ing the net­work of World Surf­ing Reserves

Save The Waves (STW) aims to improve upon the net­work of World Surf­ing Reserves (WSR) that it has cre­at­ed over the past 12-years. The WSR pro­gram is a glob­al­ly rec­og­nized inno­v­a­tive project that mobi­lizes surf com­mu­ni­ties to pro­tect and stew­ard their coastal ecosys­tems. This is a unique and dynam­ic approach to con­ser­va­tion as it engages surfers and stake­hold­ers at the grass­roots lev­el to pro­tect their coastal resources. This com­mu­ni­ty dri­ven approach with the tech­ni­cal sup­port, capac­i­ty, and glob­al reach of Save The Waves cre­ates tan­gi­ble con­ser­va­tion out­comes that pro­tect waves and their sur­round­ing ecosys­tems from the threats of cli­mate change, plas­tic pol­lu­tion, coastal devel­op­ment and more. 

This mod­el incor­po­rates non-legal forms of pro­tec­tion through stew­ard­ship plan­ning as well as some WSRs even­tu­al­ly becom­ing legal­ly pro­tect­ed areas when there is a need and polit­i­cal will. With 12 loca­tions across the globe, this project seeks to improve upon the net­work that has been cre­at­ed, ensur­ing long-term con­ser­va­tion out­comes and finan­cial sus­tain­abil­i­ty for each WSR, as well as cre­ate resilience and adap­ta­tion strate­gies to con­front a chang­ing climate.