About the campaign

The HAZla por tu Ola (Act for your wave) campaign seeks to protect Peru’s emblematic surf breaks through a unique legal protection mechanism that exists in Peru.

In 2013, the Peruvian government finalized Law No. 27280 —Law for the Protection of Surf Breaks Appropriate for Athletic Use (i.e. surf). The law stipulates that once a surf break is registered in the National Register of Protected Surf Breaks (RENARO, for its Spanish acronym), the surf break is legally protected from infrastructure projects that could adversely affect it (e.g. construction of piers, ports etc).

However, for a surf break to be included in RENARO and thus be legally protected, a technical file with detailed maps of the area must be created. This technical file includes studies of the ocean floor (bathymetry) and the coastal profile, which clearly identifies the physical features along the coast that create the specific surf break. The file must be submitted to - and approved by - the Peruvian navy. To compile the studies that make up the file, oceanographers must be hired, which costs between USD 3,000 to USD 6,000, depending on the surf break.

HAZla por tu Ola is a crowd-sourcing campaign that seeks to protect as many Peruvian surf breaks as possible, by raising funds for the technical files and building citizen awareness and leadership. The campaign is co-organized by Conservamos por Naturaleza of the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law and Peru’s National Surfing Federation (FENTA).

How to protect your favorite Peruvian surf break

Follow these steps to take charge and protect your favorite surf break in Peru:

1. STEP 1

   Find your favorite surf break in this list . If there is no Coordinator, take responsibility: write to us at haz@conservamos.org and become Coordinator for your favorite wave. If there already is a Coordinator - communicate with him / her and support him / her in whatever is needed!

2. STEP 2

   Find out what it will cost to create the technical file for your surf break: We will assist you in determining how much it will cost to compile the technical file for your surf break, by liaising with the oceanographers who do the studies. The list of oceanographers is here.

3. STEP 3

   Coordinate with Carolina Butrich, General Coordinator of HAZla por tu Ola, to plan your fund-raising strategy for creating the technical file for your surf break. Email her at carolina.butrich89@gmail.com

4. STEP 4

   Create a team and start fund-raising. Be creative and reach out to surfers, interested businesses (surf shops, surf schools, hotels etc.), municipalities and others to raise the funds needed to protect your surf break. Here are some more ideas on how you can raise funds.

5. STEP 5

   Fund the technical file for your surf break. Once you’ve raised the funds, hire an oceanographer to create the technical file, making sure to include Carolina, the General Coordinator, so that she can help you supervise the oceanographer’s work. Usually, 30% is paid to the oceanographer upon signing the work contract, another 30% when the technical file is delivered to your, and the remaining 40% when the surf break is registered in RENARO.

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