ANJANI GANASE
Could enthusiasts of sports such as surfing influence the conservation of their favourite beaches? Anjani Ganase makes the case for surfers in Trinidad and Tobago to champion beaches like Toco or Mt Irvine.
Coastlines that generate outstanding wave formation and epic surf conditions often coincide with areas rich in biodiversity and marine life. It sometimes happens that marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs that support rich marine life below, also support roaring surfing communities above the water.
All coastal areas are heavily influenced by human activities, especially since over 70 per cent of the world’s populations are found within 50 km of coasts. As a result, there’s hardly a coast or marine ecosystem that’s untouched by human activity. Indeed, many have undergone significant degradation. Popular surfing destinations have not been spared from a wide range of human activities such as coastal development, seabed dredging and the installation of dykes, seawalls and coastal revetments, that result in the alteration of water movement and, therefore, wave formation.
Surfers around the world have begun actively seeking to preserve the surf breaks along with the surrounding environment, appreciating that their recreational spaces need long-term conservation management.
[caption id="attachment_954848" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Surfing at Sans Souci, Toco. Photo courtesy Nicholas Marsan[/caption]
The concept of wave reserves is not new; in fact, the first wave reserve was declared in 1973 at Bell’s Beach in Victoria, Australia. Bell’s Beach is home to the longest running pro surf competition in the world. To this day, this beach remains untouched and protected. At the same time, the beach and its waves bring in millions of dollars of revenue through annual surfing competitions without requiring any permanent infrastructure on the sand. Such alignment of coastal and marine conservation goals for the development of sports and recreational activities can prove to be very valuable for nations working to achieve sustainability as they develop.
Today, there are dozens of wave reserves established around the world, some with legal protection of the surf and surrounding areas. These activities have been led by organisations such as Save The Wave Coalition and by independent community surf groups in different countries. Researchers found that 37 per cent of surf breaks already occurred within protected areas, while over two-thirds were not protected, even though they occurred close to biodiversity hotspots.
About 25 per cent of renowned surfing locations around the world occur within 5 km of key marine biodiversity hotspots that are not protected. Interestingly, if the existing protected areas were to expand their boundaries by 5 km, then up to 80 per cent of surf breaks could be protected.
Here surfing activity may be able to garner support for expanding conservation that is inclusive of wave reserves. These surf spots range
