Lessons for the design of surf resource protection – The Australasian experience

Abstract

Surf breaks are natural resources that provide substantial value to communities around the world. Following decades of coastal development that largely ignored these features, New Zealand and Australia have established innovative approaches for their protection. These are centred on national level initiatives that are now well established in coastal management frameworks. Through a case study approach this study evaluates the implementation aspects with a particular focus on effectiveness. The findings illustrate major differences between the systems. New Zealand has recently developed national policy that provides direct statutory protection for nationally important areas, and improved attention to regionally and locally important surf resources. Implementation is driven by regional jurisdictions through a hierarchy of policies and plans, and in practice, has proven extremely variable. Comparison of regional planning approaches shows inconsistencies in the scope and design of implementation methods that directly affect the level of protection provided. However, this compares to a prior situation of almost no statutory protection. Despite wide variance in the protection actually afforded, there are now over 250 surf breaks identified by statutory protection mechanisms. The Australian system utilises a non-statutory approach driven by a community organisation to address similar issues and objectives. The programme provides a consistent framework that facilitates high levels of protection where it has been applied. However, it has resulted in a relatively small number of implementations to date and relies on a high level of human agency. Compared to the extent of the surf resource this highlights potential issues for scalability. Comparing the strengths and weakness of each country's approach shows that the characteristic limitations affect different aspects of policy implementation. Combining the successful aspects of each will assist progress towards the sustainable management of surf resources.