Protected areas
We protect surf ecosystems by creating well-managed protected areas in high priority coastal zones that overlap with high quality surf.
Save The Waves achieves long-term conservation goals and creates impact from the ground up through our two global programs: World Surfing Reserves (WSRs) and Surf Protected Area Networks (SPANs).
WORLD SURFING RESERVES
SURF PROTECTED AREA NETWORKS
recent news in Protected areas

Representing Surf Breaks at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal
Last month, Save The Waves Coalition attended the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal which brought together governments, NGO’s,

How to Protect A Local Surf Ecosystem: Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica
“Our community is as strong as our wave.” How do you preserve one the of premiere Costa Rican surf breaks and its local wildlife?

Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica dedicated and celebrated as World Surfing Reserve
BREAKING: Costa Rica’s Playa Hermosa was dedicated as the newest World Surfing Reserve, designating Garabito’s famous surf break as only one out of twelve such surf reserves across the globe and the first in Central America

North Devon: The Quintessential UK Surf Ecosystem
As surfers, we value places with good waves, but there are other factors that keep us enchanted and hooked to our favorite coastal zones. Selected as the next World Surfing Reserve North Devon embodies the definition of a surf ecosystem.
How do we create protected areas?
We use a combination of voluntary conservation agreements, economic incentives, coalition-building and regulatory frameworks to achieve this goal by creating individual Reserves (WSRS) and Networks (SPANS).