Fotografia: Pedro Broeiro / ESC
The study on the evaluation of the impact of the Ericeira World Surfing Reserve (EWSR) in the last decade has already been published on the official website of the Ericeira WSR+10 project.
This study was commissioned by Ericeira Surf Clube (ESC), the promoter of the EWSR+10, to analyze the impact of surfing and activities associated with these sports in economic, social, environmental and image terms.
one of the main legacies of the project promoted by ESC will be the evaluation of the impact of surfing activities
Instead of reducing the analysis to the economic impact of the EWSR in euros, the consultant in the area of city and territory management proposed to take a picture of the impact of surfing in Ericeira. In an interview with Lusa agency, Juanma Murua declared that he had come to the conclusion that «surfing has contributed to increasing the number of tourist accommodations and schools of the sport, but the tourist pressure has brought environmental problems». The Portuguese news agency also highlighted that the «economic growth that ‘surf’ brought, with the increase in the number of tourists, increased urban pressure and traffic and the WSR “did not have a positive impact on the quality of life of residents”, since green spaces did not increase proportionately, nor did it contribute to the increase in employment or the purchasing power of residents’.
Despite these and other aspects, the Basque consultant stated in an interview with EWSR+10 that, in an overall assessment, the impact of the EWSR has been positive.
Juanma Murua considers that work is needed to take advantage of the study conclusions and make it a tool that can contribute to greater sustainability of the Ericeira World Surfing Reserve, requiring greater sharing and collaboration between the agents responsible for it, as well as the existence of a legal figure that facilitates and guarantees a better management of this area.
One of the main legacies of the project promoted by ESC over more than a year will involve the assessment of the impact of surfing activities (and associated activities) throughout the initial decade, present in this study in four distinct dimensions – environmental, economic, social and image – as well as the respective recommendations for the future of the EWSR and for the remaining World Surfing Reserves and World Surf Cities.
In an interview with the EWSR+10 website, Murua considered it essential that the responsible entities “do not stop at a simple quantification of the economic impact and seek, above all, to understand the global impact of surfing in their territory. This seems to me to be an important lesson to be learnt from our study and our recommendations and one that could perfectly be adapted to any other similar reality.”
the guidelines reflect concerns about various types of impacts
The consultant considers it possible, namely, to design a common assessment tool for all World Surfing Reserves, starting from some points of analysis present in this study, since very common and accessible indicators were used. “When we designed the methodology of the study, that was a fundamental objective, which could be used by other regions”, which could act as a driving force to advance in an evaluation tool that can be used by the promoters of the Reserves, in order to offer the information that each Reserve needs, located in its territorial reality and allowing the comparison between the different Reserves.”
Regarding the Recommendations for the other World Surfing Reserves and for the World Surf Cities – extracted in consequence of the results obtained by the Impact Study -, they aim to contribute to a more sustainable development of each location that integrates these two networks.
There is also a handful of recommendations related to the methodology to be implemented in each specific case: Relationship between surfing and the academy; Identification of impacts, indicators and data; Geographic scope of impact; Monitoring; and General model for the impact study of the WSR.
The Ericeira World Surfing Reserve was until April this year (when the British region of North Devon became the 12th WSR) the only one on the European continent, integrating a global network under the umbrella of Save the Waves Coalition, an international association that created this program with the aim of preserving and promoting coastal regions with waves of unparalleled quality – in Ericeira, it is a 13-kilometer coastal strip that includes seven waves with unique characteristics (Pedra Branca, Reef, Ribeira d’Ilhas, Cave, Crazy Left , Coxos and São Lourenço), their respective landscapes and ecosystems. The Guardians of EWSR are Mafra City Council, Ericeira Surf Clube, Associação dos Amigos da Baía dos Coxos and SOS – Salvem o Surf.
Ericeira WSR+10 was promoted by Ericeira Surf Clube and financed by the European Commission, with the support of the Municipality of Mafra.
All relevant information about Ericeira WSR+10 can be checked online, on the event’s official website and on the respective social networks.
Esta publicação também está disponível em | This article is also available in: Portuguese (Portugal)
