Valuing surfing ecosystems: an environmental economics and natural resources management perspective

Figures & data

Figure 1. Surfing ecosystem representation depicting examples of cultural, provisioning, regulating and supporting ecosystem services. Diagram created with icons by Dieter Tracey (Diponegoro University Indonesia, University of Queensland), Kim Kraeer, Lucy Van Essen-Fishman, Tracey Saxby, Jane Hawkey, Max Hermanson, Christine Thurber (Integration and Application Network) (ian.umces.edu/media-library).

Table 2. Summary of surfing direct expenditure studies.

Location	Expenditure per surfer	Aggregated expenditure across the surfing population	Reference
Guarda do Embaú, Santa Catarina – Brazil	61 US$/day	4.2 million US$/year	Bosquetti and de Souza (2019)
United Kingdom	2,980 UK£/year	4.95 billion UK£/year	Mills and Cummins (2015)
Huanchaco, Trujillo – Peru	45 US$/day	0.30 million US$/year	Hodges (2015)
Todos Santos, Baja California – Mexico	111 US$/day	0.75–0.97 million US$/year	Hodges (2014)
Uluwatu, Bali – Indonesia	150 US$/day	35.3 million US$/year	Margules et al. (2014)
Mundaka, Basque Country – Spain	120 US$/day	1–4.5 million US$/year	Murphy and Bernal (2008)
Pichilemu, Cardenal Caro – Chile	168 US$/day	2–8 million US$/year	Wright et al. (2014)
Gold Coast, Queensland – Australia	1,942 A$/year	126–233 million A$/year	Lazarow (2009)
South Stradbroke Island, Queensland – Australia	1,775 A$/year	20 million A$/year	Lazarow (2007)
Bastion Point, Victoria – Australia	3,078 A$/year	230,850 A$/year	Lazarow (2007)

Figure 2. Market and non-market values of recreational surfing.

Table 1. Summary of four categories of ecosystem services with examples Relevant to surfing ecosystems.

Ecosystem Services	Definition	Generic example	Examples related to surfing ecosystems
Cultural	Non-material benefits humans derive from the environment, and which contribute to our well-being in one or multiple ways.	Recreation, sport, health, spirituality, knowledge or social connections	Physical and mental health, social connections, heritage.
Provisioning	Goods and products obtained directly from ecosystems	Freshwater, wood, fuel, fiber and food	Fish stocks for subsistence and commercial fishing.
Regulating	Processes that modulate natural phenomena and that are beneficial for humans	Water purification, climate regulation, erosion and flood control	Protection against storms and tsunamis.
Supporting	Those services are necessary for the formation and support of all other ecosystem services, including intermediate process.	Nutrient cycle, biomass production	Sediment transport and storage, habitat formation, feeding and nursery areas.

Source: Barbier et al. (2011); Kosanic and Petzold (2020); NWF (2023).

Figure 3. A framework for the value Characterization and economic valuation of surfing ecosystems.

Table 3. Summary of non-market valuation surf studies.

Method	Location	Valuation result	Reference
Revealed preferences
Travel cost method	Pleasure Point, California – USA	US$6.2m/year (total)	Tilley (2001)
Travel costs method	Mavericks, California – USA	US$57/person/visit US$23.8 million/year (total);	Coffman and Burnett (2009)
Travel costs method	Trestles, California – USA	US$114–US$232/person/visit	Nelsen (2012)
Travel costs method	Costa de Caparica, Setúbal – Portugal	€1m (total) €47/person/visit	Silva and Ferreira (2014)
Travel costs methods	New South Wales – Australia	A$9–30/person/visit	Pascoe (2019)
Hedonic pricing	Santa Cruz, California – USA	US$106,000/house/mile closer to surf break	Scorse et al. (2015)
Stated preferences
Contingent valuation	Across Portugal	€15–22/person/preserved beach	Ramos et al. (2019)

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