Development and Application of Local Coastal Knowledge: Insights from New Zealand Surfers

Abstract

Through their accumulated experiences with coastal environments, surfers may be uniquely qualified as a source of local knowledge on surf breaks and wider coastal management topics. Despite popular associations between surfers and the environment, critical enquiries are needed to establish the scope and depth of surfers’ knowledge and the processes that may influence its development. In this study, we expected that relationships between surfers and the coastal environment would be highly variable and dependent upon several outside factors, including individual motivations and biases. This broad hypothesis was tested through an oral history study of 15 New Zealand surfers, which examined the development of coastal environment knowledge through surfing experiences and explored its applications to resource management in New Zealand. Surfers can develop a unique local knowledge of the coast that is often specific to their favourite locations but can also include regional insights obtained through site-scale comparisons. These may include relatively detailed observations that are typically difficult to detect or measure and that are primarily generated through sustained surfing experiences. Socio-cultural factors, including gender stereotypes, localism, equipment bias, and interaction with accessibility, were identified as key influences on individual motivations and knowledge generation contexts. This study argues that surfers’ perspectives are critical to informing management decisions in the coastal environment. Knowledge residing in the surfing community is dependent on individual associations with surf breaks, yet it can be harnessed across meaningful scales to inform coastal management. Moreover, the generation of local knowledge through surfing experiences adds to the societal benefits of protecting surf breaks.