What is the Surfrider Foundation?

The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s oceans, waves and beaches for all people through conservation, activism, research and education (C.A.R.E.).

What does Surfrider do exactly?

Surfrider uses grassroots activism to help protect our oceans, waves and beaches. We are coastal advocates focused on inspiring change to ensure the adequate protection and management of our coastal ecosystems. Here in British Columbia, Canada we currently have two chapters (Vancouver and Vancouver Island, there were formerly two chapters on Vancouver Island: Victoria and Tofino). Together we work to educate our communities on the importance of water quality, the hydrologic cycle, low impact development, being conscious consumers and environmental conservation. We also monitor local waste treatment facilities, water quality testing, and coastal development projects (such as the Olympic Village on False Creek, Jordan River in Victoria, and the Catface Mountain mining exploration in Tofino).

The Vancouver Chapter is currently running several campaigns and programs throughout the lower mainland including:

• Rise Above Plastics: We are currently working with a coalition of local environmental groups to raise awareness on the adverse effects of single-use plastics in our marine environments. We are also actively monitoring local policies pertaining to plastics and we are working with our corporate sponsors to minimize their reliance on plastic products. There are numerous volunteer opportunities and you do not need to be a plastics expert to get involved. We encourage you to learn more about RAP at http://www.riseaboveplastics.org/.

• Snowrider Project: The Snowrider Project was established to bring greater understanding of the hydrological cycle (the foundation for the intimate environmental connection between snow, land and surf) and to foster a sense of stewardship towards alpine and valley ecosystems. Our Snowrider Project committee works on the local mountains to educate the ski/snowboard community about the connections between our mountain watersheds and our oceans. If you’d like to help protect our mountains in addition to our oceans, waves and beaches you can learn more at http://www.surfrider.org/snowrider/.

• Respect the Beach: Our Respect the Beach education team is currently working on updating the Surfrider Foundation’s Respect the Beach lesson plan to reflect local issues associated with beach and watershed dynamics. This educational guide for elementary students is geared toward educating the next generation in environmental issues critical to Surfrider’s mission. Please let us know if you are interested in learning more about this program or assisting with its development. For more information please see http://www.respectthebeach.com/.

• Beach and Mountain CleanUps: Throughout the year we organize several beach and mountain cleanups to raise awareness and provide an opportunity for the community to see the impacts of human development first hand. The trash collected at each cleanup is then sorted and the data is entered into our database so we can better understand which sources are the most detrimental to our local marine environments.

Where is Surfrider based? Where are the chapters located?

The Surfrider Foundation was started by a group of visionary surfers from Malibu, California back in 1984 (making this year our 25^th anniversary)! Our global headquarters is now based out of San Clemente, California. We have nearly 80 chapters worldwide, with over 60 based in the United States and affiliates in Europe, Australia, Bazil, Japan, Peru, Argentina, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Mexico and there are currently two chapters here in British Columbia, Canada!

What sorts of campaigns/programs is Surfrider involved in?

Globally, Surfrider is involved in a variety of campaigns and programs aimed at protecting our coastal ecosystems, based on the parameters outlined in our mission statement. Our campaigns and programs are developed to support our strategic goals/initiatives: Clean Water, Beach Access, Beach Preservation, and Protecting Special Places. The Surfrider Foundation chapter network works on a diverse set of coastal problems ranging from water quality, to single-use plastics in our marine environment, to shoreline armoring and the protection of surfing areas. However, the common thread is that all of these efforts are direct action organizing campaigns, in other words volunteer driven. In an effort to better support the chapter network, celebrate our local successes and to ensure the priorities of Surfrider remain focused we have established a vision in the new Strategic Plan that states our goal to achieve 150 Coastal Victories by 2010. A Coastal Victory is defined as a decision made in favor of the coastal and ocean environment that results in a positive conservation outcome, improves coastal access, or both. For a complete list of our Coastal Victories to date please see our global website at http://www.surfrider.org/. Each victory gets us one step closer to our goal and together we can make a difference!

What type of research does Surfrider do?

Surfrider activists are always researching local policies and practices pertaining to water quality, beach access, coastal development, and all other issues affecting our oceans, waves and beaches. Globally, Surfrider is involved in various research projects with other environmental organizations, government, and graduate students. Perhaps our most well known publication is the State of the Beach report. The Surfrider Foundation State of the Beach report is an annual update on the health of our beaches. The report is focused primarily on the United States; however, there are plans to expand the research into Canada. In fact, this past summer the Surfrider Foundation hired a Canadian research intern to aid in this expansion. This research will be made available on the Surfrider website soon. The report is intended to empower concerned citizens and coastal managers by giving them the information needed to take action. Since 2000, Surfrider researchers have been collecting information on nine beach health indicators including beach access, surf zone water quality, beach erosion, beach fill, shoreline structures, beach ecology and surfing areas to get an understanding of the condition of our nation’s beaches. For more information on the State of the Beach or to access the full report please see http://www.surfrider.org/stateofthebeach/. If you have any questions about the Canadian component of this research please contact Haley Haggerstone from the Vancouver Chapter at hhaggerstone@hotmail.com.

How do I get involved with Surfrider?

The best way to get involved is to become a member. An annual membership is only $5 if you buy it from one of your local chapters. This membership gets you on our mailing list so you can stay in the loop about upcoming campaigns, meetings and events as well as discounts at a growing number of retailers throughout the world. For a complete list of our corporate sponsors please see https://www.surfrider.org/retailers/. Memberships can also be purchased online for a slightly higher price of $25, which gets you a subscription to Making Waves our award winning publication informing you about all that is Surfrider.

Alternately, if you are not yet sure about becoming a member you can sign up for our mailing list. This way you can find out more about our local efforts to protect our oceans, waves, and beaches. If you are interested in volunteering please go to our chapter website and contact our Volunteer Coordinator.

What can I do to help the cause?

The beauty of the Surfrider mission is that you can take it and adapt it to your own life and community. Even a small change can make a difference. Whether that means becoming a member, participating in a local beach or mountain cleanup, or making the conscious decision to avoid single-use plastics in your everyday life. Every little bit counts and we know that change takes time so do what you can and if you’d like to learn more help yourself to one of our 10 Ways to Help Our Oceans, Waves and Beaches pamphlets.