Save the Waves Mobile App
About Save The Waves Coalition
Save The Waves Coalition (STW) is an international nonprofit that works in coalition with like-minded organizations dedicated to protecting surf ecosystems. We work with organizations and individuals at a grassroots level on an international scale – enabling local surf breaks to be protected by the communities that cherish them the most. Our goal is to protect 1,000 surf ecosystems by 2030.
The Save The Waves App
The Save The Waves App crowdsources data from coastal users who identify key coastal threats like illegal development, plastic pollution and poor water quality. Using smartphone technology, users snap a photo of the impacted site that is geotagged by the phone’s GPS. This data is shared with on-the-ground practitioners, coastal agencies, and protected area managers in our coalition. With our larger community, we can identify and reduce threats in surf ecosystems across the globe, empowering our local communities to be active stewards in the protection of surf ecosystems.
ABOUT:
The Save The Waves App empowers the global surfing community to crowdsource key data on the most pressing issues facing our coastal communities.
Users document threats they encounter in surf ecosystems such as plastic pollution, impaired water quality, loss of coastal access, and sea-level rise where it is immediately displayed on the global coastal threat map. We connect this data with partner organizations and with the projects we are implementing around the globe. The primary goal is to harness the power of the global network of surfers to inform, educate and develop solutions to coastal threats.
WHY:
With over 35 million surfers and countless beach-goers accessing all coastlines around the world regularly, there is a unique opportunity to capture coastal threats in real time and gather essential data that will help agencies and organizations respond to immediate and long-term threats to coastal ecosystems. As the threats to coastal ecosystems are vast and interconnected, this citizen scientist data can provide critical information and funnel resources and attention to areas that need it most.
HOW IT WORKS:
Users snap a photo of the impacted site, select a threat category menu and include a brief comment. The photo is geotagged by the phone’s GPS and then synched with a mapping function to display on the app. We then share with partner agencies and take action as a coalition.
Users can go beyond providing critical data and take action by responding to the threat. Through the “Take Action” function, users can select personal steps they can take to respond to threat, connect to ongoing stewardship projects in the area or create theirown, and make requests to local agencies and organizations that can most effectively respond to the particular category of the threat.
THE RESULT:
Save The Waves aims to have 30,000 users of the app by the end of 2021 with at least 5,000 documented threats shared on with partners and informing key STW partners. Working with our global coalition of surfers and ambassadors, the Save The Waves Mobile App will be an invaluable tool for the conservation community and give people opportunities to make an impact close to home or on their travels. We empower the communities in which we work, to have a real impact through this crowdsourced data.
CONTACT:
Diego Sancho diego@savethewaves.org Phone: 206-930-9457