Surfing's big break: how climate crisis insurance may save El Salvador's waves

"Surf tourism is the backbone of our local economy. However, this same dependence makes us highly vulnerable to climate-related disruptions. Concerned about the community's future, in 2023 Barraza teamed up with Save the Waves, an international surfing nonprofit organisation, and together they made an unusual decision: they took out an insurance policy for Oriente Salvaje."

"Down a rough dirt track hours from any city, he found it: a little-known surf spot on the country's eastern shores, where long lines of waves form a crisp right-hand break, surrounded by thousands of hectares of tropical forest. They developed sustainable tourism standards and committed to protect the surrounding biodiverse ecosystem of rare dry tropical forest, rivers and mangroves."

"Intense tropical storms cause flooding, churning up the picture-perfect waves, blocking transport routes, and keeping surfers away. Without them, the local economy a constellation of hotels, restaurants, surf shops, fishers and drone experts sputters to a halt."

Rodrigo Barraza discovered a pristine surf spot in El Salvador's eastern region in the late 1990s and established Oriente Salvaje, a sustainable tourism destination featuring world-class breaks at Las Flores and Punto Mango. The area encompasses 19 kilometers of coastline surrounded by biodiverse tropical forest, rivers, and mangroves. The thriving surf industry supports hotels, restaurants, surf shops, fishers, and other local businesses. However, intense tropical storms caused by climate change increasingly disrupt the waves, flood the region, block transport routes, and keep surfers away, threatening the local economy's stability. In 2023, Barraza partnered with Save the Waves, an international nonprofit organization, to implement an innovative solution: parametric insurance designed to support community recovery from climate-related disruptions.

Read at www.theguardian.com