Santa Cruz has been named the fourth World Surfing Reserve and the dedication celebration is next weekend. World Surfing Reserves and the Santa Cruz Local Stewardship Council (LSC) and Ambassadors are pleased to announce that the official dedication of Santa Cruz as a World Surfing Reserve will be held on April 27th and 28th.
To commemorate the selection, there will be an evening fundraiser celebration at Cocoanut Grove on Friday, April 27th, with a night of music, drinks, art, and surf history/culture. All proceeds will go towards the Santa Cruz LSC to continue the stewardship of the Reserve. Tickets are $25 (presale) and are available here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3316520803.
On Saturday, April 28th, the Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve will be officially enshrined with a morning paddle out at Pleasure Point at 10am, followed by the dedication ceremony at Steamer Lane at 1pm. This will be followed from 2pm – 3pm with a Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve Fair, where attendees can mingle with local organizations and community groups and check out historic surfboards, wetsuits, and other artifacts on display thanks to the Santa Cruz Surfing Club Preservation Society.
Congrats to Santa Cruz as it is quite a distinction. Santa Cruz was formally approved as a World Surfing Reserve on February 3, 2011 and will join the other three areas that have been approved: Malibu Surfrider Beach in USA, Manly Beach in Australia, and Ericeira in Portugal. The World Surfing Reserves proactively identifies, designates and preserves outstanding waves, surf zones and their surrounding environments around the world. The program serves as a global model for preserving wave breaks and their surrounding areas by recognizing the positive environmental, cultural, economic and community benefits of surfing areas.
Save The Waves Coalition, along with key partners National Surfing Reserves (NSR) Australia and the International Surfing Association (ISA), launched World Surfing Reserves in 2009. The initiative creates a global network of Surfing Reserves designed to educate the world about the tremendous universal value of these special places and provide tools to help local communities better protect cherished surf breaks.
For further details, check out http://www.worldsurfingreserves.org/.
