Save the waves: The mission of special reserves

AT the beginning of 2022, France got its very first wave reserve. And what better time than World Ocean Day, Wednesday, June 8, to take a closer look at this concept, which has been deployed in various countries around the world in recent years.

From marine parks to high seas, in the run-up to World Oceans Day, Wednesday, June 8, you might be seeing a lot of sea-related terms like these.

The first refers to marine areas designed to protect the seas and oceans from overfishing and mass tourism (among other things).

The second refers to the world's maritime waters that do not strictly belong to any nation (they are also known by the legal term "international waters").

But you might also hear about wave reserves. In fact, France got its very first wave reserve in February, on the beach of Port Blanc in Saint-Pierre-Quiberon (Brittany).

It is the surfer Erwan Simon, co-founder of the France Hydrodiversité organization, who is behind the initiative. As its name suggests, a wave reserve involves protecting the quality and the power of the waves in a specific place.

The movement and characteristics of waves depends on the features of the surrounding environment: wind, rocks, sand, the sea bed, and more. And surfers are often the first to defend this hydrodiversity, since it is closely related to their favorite activity.

What are waves being protected from?

According to the description given by the Save The Waves Coalition -- an NGO that works to protect surfing zones around the world -- a wave reserve involves the safeguarding of exceptional waves from constructions designed to break or reduce their power and intensity (seawalls, breakwaters, etc.).

Save The Waves runs a flagship program that proactively identifies, designates and preserves exceptional waves, surf areas and their environments around the world. "[World Surfing Reserves] represent a global network of designated surfing reserves that are managed, implemented, and protected by local communities," the NGO states on its website.

To date, there are around 15 wave reserves around the world, from the Gold Coast in Australia to Ericeira in Portugal, Punta de Lobos in Chile and Santa Cruz in the USA.