Cover photo: Robinson by WSL/Ryder 

A demonstration involving hundreds of people yesterday in Teahupoo was held against the aluminium tower that Paris 2024 plans to build for the Olympic surfing event there, local surfer Mathi Drollet said in an Instagram live broadcast.

According to what he expressed on social media, as reported by Stab magazine: “This peaceful march is not against the Olympic Games but against the new aluminum judging tower. It will damage the reef and the entire ecosystem of the lagoon in front of the wave… And in the worst possible scenario, the Teahupoo wave as well.”

He added: “The ocean and the lagoon are the most precious places we have here. It is where we get our food, where we play, where we spend most of our time and where the most perfect wave on the planet is. It is a legacy from our ancestors that we have to preserve.

"Our association brings together fishermen, farmers, surfers, the people of Teahupoo and young and old people… We are against this new tower. We want to use the normal one that the WSL uses every year, it works perfectly well and they have to adapt to our environment and listen to what we locals have to say," Drollet concluded.

For the event, it was decided that the athletes would stay on a cruise ship, which is why there are concerns about the waste it might leave behind and the pollution it might create, but which, overall, is not a big concern because it does not have a permanent impact.

One of the sites the games will use, a taro field behind the village, is already being filled with concrete, surfer Mateia Hiquily said.

According to The Guardian, based on a statement made by a scientist from the University of Miami, any construction on the reef can affect its life and ecosystem.

There has still been no response from the organization to the protests.

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