Protecting surf spots

World Wave Sites team: Ryan Seelbach, Will Henry, Greg Benoit, Chris LaFranchi, Ben Finney, Jim Moriarty, Fernando Aguerre, Rodney A. Woodstock, Sky, Miles Walsh, Lindsey Davis, Dean LaTourrette, Kara Allen, Christoph Tito Huber, Joao De Macedo, Drew Kampion, Steve Hawk, Brad Farmer, Josh Berry, Wallace J. Nichols, Chad Nelsen, Mark Massara, Len Materman

Last Friday, Save the Waves brought together an interesting mix of surfing eco-activists, industry leaders and deep thinkers to discuss proactively protecting surfing areas by establishing surfing "reserves".

Topics discussed included the importance of surfing heritage and cultural values, protecting the ocean environment, economics and the waves themselves.

Brad Farmer, of the Australian National Surfing Reserves, described the process of establishing surfing reserves in Australia like the one at Lennox, and lessons that might be applied elsewhere.

While establishing protected surfing areas is an ambitious and aspirational goal and there are many important decisions and details to be worked out, I think it is safe to say the group universally agreed that the world's special surfing areas deserve the same types of protection that our land-based recreational havens like Yosemite have.

Stay tuned for more on protecting surfing areas...