For decades surfers had no voice. The authorities held a dim view of these bohemian misfits that followed the waves and would rather surf than work. Often surfers would find themselves helpless as local councils, developers and others come along and destroy local breaks through construction works.

Ancient laws, written up in the mid 20th Century or even earlier, deemed anything beyond the high tide mark worthless, as in not a recognised asset, therefore vulnerable and easy pickings for ambitious developers and compliant Council engineers who thought blocking those pesky, worthless waves in favour of their grand vision of steel and concrete was a beautiful accomplishment.

Many commercial projects came at the expense of a much loved surf break. My first throw at the stumps in surfing activism was when Big Groyne Kirra was about to be built. We thought this would spell the end of our beloved local, as it turned out it actually made Kirra Point better, albeit not by intent but happily by accident.

The bulldozer carrying the first huge boulder trundled towards me like a Sherman Tank. I stood my ground waving a pair of red boardies. The DC9 came to a halt and I preened my neck to look around the blade and to my shock, sitting in the cabin was Baska, my sisters boyfriend, who had just started a new job with the Council. What made it especially awkward was that not only was I staying with them most nights but he was in fact feeding me.

More often than not it wasn’t a happy ending for many surf breaks. Just over 20 years ago a group of surfers in Santa Cruz, California, established Save the Waves in response to desperate pleas from surfers on the Atlantic island of Madeira, where surf spots were being destroyed and others under threat. I credit Nick Strong of Save the Waves and Andrew McKinnon of Gold Coast World Surfing Reserves for much of my research. 

The initial campaign brought to light the realisation that many places around the world faced similar threats, but from a broader set of challenges that included water quality, plastics, industrial pollution, sewage overspills, as well as marinas, erosion, loss of dune systems and many other obstructions. 

To their everlasting credit, Save the Waves made the decision to proactively protect surf breaks rather than conduct defensive campaigns. This was critical because once the local Council, State or Federal Government signed off on a major development project, even ones where zero public consultation had been undertaken, it was too late, contracts were forthcoming and works would proceed.

This progressive thinking defined the genesis for World Surfing Reserves. Originally the group collaborated with Australia’s National Surfing Reserves, a body that had secured symbolic protection for many iconic Aussie waves. 

As World Surfing Reserves matured, as criteria for inclusion was refined and disseminated globally, the next move was to secure comprehensive funding and establish overarching stewardship. This global movement was now making sense, so Save the Waves created a focus group to establish World Surfing Reserves.

WSR’s are like a swan, on the surface they glide elegantly with community support while underneath the legs are working furiously to secure local, state and federal government support. Due to this phenomenal volunteer effort, in a relatively short time there are now about a dozen reserves globally.

Some are obscure breaks that have halted much grander visions for massive development, kind of like how an endangered green frog may halt the damming of a river system that also saves ancient flora from destruction to make way for the massive construction.

There are three World Surfing Reserves in Australia, being Manly Beach, Noosa and the Gold Coast stretch from Snapper Rocks to Burleigh Heads. Each had boxes ticked in enough sections of the selection criteria to validate their approval.

Manly may not qualify as one of the best waves in Australia however it has a rich history in surfing. For starters it is just around the headland from Freshwater Beach where Duke Kahanamoku introduced surfing to this country during a famous exhibition in 1915. It was where my dear old friend Snowy McAllister performed a headstand on his final ride to win the 1928 Australian Title and it’s where Midget Farrelly and Phyllis O’Donnell were crowned Australia’s first World Champions in 1964.

Noosa has always been protected by the National Park that rings the meandering bays and headlands that make up various famous breaks. Thank goodness for that, one can imagine how many resorts would be Hanging five over Nationals, Tea Tree, Granite etc if not for gazetted national protection.

The Gold Coast was a battle, finding that blended balance between being Australia’s tourist capital was always going to be fought on several fronts. There was a plethora of well-intentioned surf related environmental/industry/sport groups hammering the Gold Coast City Council and State Government. In the end they kind of overlapped and diluted each other, the result being the too hard basket.

To its credit the Goldy City Council, led by a young forward thinker in Shannon Hunt and backed by Mayor Tom Tate, created a Surf Management Plan.

Coming at them from a more pointed angle was the inimitable Andrew McKinnon, armed with a bid for a WSR. To be fair, there were many early contributors. Neil Lazarus from Griffith University successfully calculated a value on every beach from Snapper to South Straddie. The fact the industry was also valued in the billions, caught the attention of the government.

There are now many campaigns landing on the desk of Save the Waves for WSR recognition. The more wins achieved significantly progress efforts for actual legislation for perpetual protection, something WSR Gold Coast and Noosa are gliding like swans towards. 

Bravo to all the heroes, to all those who commit themselves with unwavering belief to protecting surf breaks for future generations. Bravo to the volunteers who stand up simply because they care.