Photo: Save the Waves Coalition
Over three days, 70 speakers gathered in Santa Cruz, California for the fifth Global Wave Conference. Organized by the Save the Waves Coalition, the conference was a gathering of minds of surfing, conservation, and innovation communities aimed at tackling the world’s most pressing ocean issues. Everyone from surfers like Greg Long and Shaun Tomson to leading researchers like Cliff Kapono were there to share their ideas and their work. They all discussed climate change, the land to sea connection, and a laundry list of other environmental topics.
The following are six little nuggets of information and insight I picked up from my three days at this year’s conference:
1. Firewire is stepping up to the environmental plate.
The company is working with people based in New Zealand on a viable sheep’s wool glassing technique. It is planning on being Fair Trade Certified within 12 months, which would make them the first surfboard manufacturer to accomplish this. They’re also working on what it is calling “reREZ, ”a recyclable resin that will come off of tools and surfboards when dipped in a vinegar solution. Say goodbye to throwing out gummed up tools and now being able to recycle your surfboard.
2. Professional surfers are being incentivized to jump on the sustainable board bandwagon.
Kahi Pacarro, the executive director of Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii, and Cliff Kapono have sponsored the ProTest—ECOBOARD Challenge. This winter on the North Shore, professional surfers have been testing boards certified by Sustainable Surf and $10,000 will be awarded for the best performance. Hot on the heels of this, another ProTest—ECOBOARD Challenge is in the works to take place at J-Bay with the WSL involved.
3. Chile is facing a unique struggle in protecting its coastline.
Over the last two and a half years, Peru has legally protected 24 individual waves as a result of groups like Conservamos for Naturaleza working in tandem with the government and local communities. It has been a little different in Chile. Without a definitive legal framework for protecting waves, they’re facing a different set of challenges. In 2015, the fishing community of Navidad, an area southwest of Santiago, along with the local council developed and created the first community-based marine sanctuary. By all accounts, it also boasts a world-class surf break. This was Chile’s first legally protected wave for recreational activities. The organization Fundacion Rompientes continues to work on replicating the success in Navidad in other places in Chile and to work on creating a network of legally protected waves.
4. There’s still at least one untouched and possibly unsurfed piece of California coastline.
In California, The Nature Conservancy finalized the purchase of the Bixby Ranch, 24,000 acres of pristine land and coastline that is now called the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve. Rumor has it that hidden on this “last wild place in California” there are surf spots, cold and remote, right there for the finding.
5. The WSL is stepping up their eco-conscious game too.
WSL PURE, the fairly new environmental wing of the World Surf League was one of the sponsors of the conference. The new executive director, Reece Pacheco, spoke about the importance of supporting and amplifying the work of people who are on the front lines of working on critical environmental issues as well as discussing a new partnership initiative to reduce plastic waste on our beaches which will be announced soon.
6. Our planet is changing and we are part of the problem as well as the solution.
The CEO of Conservation International, Dr. Sanjayan Muttulingam, did not hold back on the issues facing the oceans saying that “by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.”And when it comes to carbon emissions and our environment, Gary Griggs, professor of Earth Sciences at University of California Santa Cruz, says “we’re not running out of fossil fuel. We’re running out of atmosphere.” But there is room for optimism and as big wave surfer Greg Long said in closing, “this is about much more than waves. This is about creating a wave of change.”
