Save the Waves continually monitors threats to surf spots worldwide, and has many active campaigns to fight threats to the surf zones, no matter where they may be. Our list of Endangered Waves will tell you the current campaigns we are managing, and how you can help. You can also visit Past Campaigns to see a list of the battles we have fought over past years. Save the Waves works hard to ensure that every donation dollar is spent on campaign work that is extremely cost-effective.

The volatile environmental situation in Chile has become the single most important campaign we are involved in at the current time. Fighting a pulp industry that seems to be running unchecked, threatening the health of local residents, the ocean and many rivers, Save the Waves stands in a unique position to influence the future of Chile's fledgling environmental movement. We took bold steps in 2006 to become a formidable presence in Chile, hiring Joshua Berry as our Chile Program Director and beginning a water-testing program on the Rio Itata. This strategy, combined with a partnership with FIMA, a group of Chile's most influential environmental lawyers, will hopefully lead to improved industry-wide standards, and the eventual protection of some of South America's best beaches and surf spots.

The most difficult challenge we often face is convincing the world's leaders that surf spots are natural places with a high social and economic value, and NEVER EVER SHOULD BE DESTROYED, NO MATTER WHAT. Our pleas sometimes fall on deaf ears, however. Can you imagine? We realized early on that many pre-existing assumptions about our sport prevent the general population from completely understanding the value of good surf. Therefore, we made a documentary film on the subject, which has become the best international voice for the preservation of surf spots that we could have ever hoped for. Lost Jewel of the Atlantic is a film about our early work to preserve the surf in Madeira, and the high value of a good surf spot. Directed by Jacob Holcomb and produced by Save the Waves, it is approximately one hour in length. To learn more about the film and see the schedule of upcoming screenings, click here.

In 2006, Save the Waves initiated its graduate study fellowship with Oregon State University to study the economic strength of surfing. Sponsored by grants from SIMA and Newman's Own Organics, the study will initially focus on two distinct surfing areas: the country of Costa Rica, and the town of Mundaka Bay, Spain. Costa Rica has used the sport of surfing as a powerful marketing tool, and has compiled data that would suggest that surfing has had an enormously positive impact on the country's economy over the past few decades. As a contrast, the temporary disappearance of the world-famous wave of Mundaka Bay, in a small village in Spain, provides us of an excellent example of how the loss of a wave can have severe negative consequences on a local economy. The study will be conducted over the next two years, and will hopefully provide Save the Waves with scientific data that will serve to strengthen our arguments regarding surf preservation.