The deadline has passed and this year’s applications are in—-The World Surfing Reserves Vision Council will be reviewing the applications and selecting the next World Surfing Reserve on Oct 13th, 2016. As part of this year’s 4th Global Wave Conference in the UK, the group will meet and determine which application best meets the criteria of the World Surfing Reserves selection process. This year, full applications were received from Gold Coast, Australia, Guarda Do Embaú, Brazil, and Noosa, Australia.
“We have an excellent selection of applications this year” Said Nik Strong-Cvetich, Executive Director of Save The Waves Coalition, and member of the World Surfing Reserves Executive Committee. “All of them are outstanding and each of the communities has put significant work into these submissions.”
Each World Surfing Reserve is selected on four criteria – Quality and Consistency of Waves, Environmental Characteristics, Surf Culture and History, and Local Support / Capacity. Once the reserve is approved, the local community and Save The Waves will begin the stewardship planning process followed by an official dedication. The next selected World Surfing Reserve will join the existing global network along with Malibu, CA (USA), Ericeira (Portugal), Manly-Freshwater Beach (Australia), Santa Cruz, CA (USA), Bahía De Todos Santos, Baja (Mexico), Huanchaco (Peru), and Punta de Lobos (Chile). The decision will be announced by Nov 1, 2015.