Special coverage presented by Wolves Forever  - Cover photo: De Heeckeren

There are championships that transcend the news of who won, who took the best wave, what happened with that alleged interference that the judges did not see.

There are championships that honor traditions, symbolize a way of life, a way of caring for nature, of being part of it, of being a solution and not a problem.

There are championships that aim to raise social awareness about the steps to follow to preserve what could die if nothing is done.

This is how the Punta de Lobos Foundation, the most respected wave venues and the technical committee of the recently announced Big Wave International, Punta de Lobos por Siempre, which will take place on a very special day between March 15 and July 15, 2021, feel.

The Pichilemu community acted quickly with Punta de Lobos, which on many occasions became Monte Carlo, and was saved definitively, but there is still much to do and all of this is centered around the foundation and the event.

This interview is well explained by Patricio Mekis, who, in addition to being a great surfer, is in charge of sustainability at the Punta de Lobos Foundation. He also has contributions from Felipe Rodriguez of the Coalition for the Law of Breakers, which is working to implement wave protection as a State policy, and another great surfer, Matías López, who is in charge of the technical commission for the event.

Punta de Lobos is a sacred nature reserve and a world surfing reserve, because of its surroundings and its waves, many people have worked hard to realize that it deserves to be looked after. This championship acts as a celebration of what has been done, but also as an important manifesto of the commitment needed to achieve what remains to be done, as expressed in an interview:

The organization insists that Lobos por Siempre is a different event. What makes it different?
I think the purpose of the event is what makes it different: We want it to be more than just a sporting event. An event that really leaves and contributes to the place. Specifically, Lobos will forever be directly helping the conservation and restoration actions that the Punta de Lobos Foundation carries out in the place.

On the other hand, we will be firmly supporting the push for a Breakwater Law that will allow us to protect our natural stadiums.

In addition, a fundamental part of the event is to highlight local culture and have the community involved. There is a competitive fund to support local sustainable initiatives, an eco-fair, among others, as an example of how we want to demonstrate that an event like this is a benefit for the community.

We want everyone who participates in the event, both competitors and spectators, to know that they are supporting this purpose and in one way or another supporting the care of this space.

What conditions are you going to expect for the event to take place? For example, a good day, with clean conditions, with sand on the slopes, would you do it? Or does it also have to be huge?
Matías López, leader of the technical committee, responds: The conditions expected to take place at the event are the best possible for Punta de Lobos. This means a day, hopefully perfect, with tubes of a certain size or more. It is a big wave event, the event is expected to take place behind the hills and if a minimum size has to be defined it would be in the order of five metres, at least.

Punta de Lobos has an important history of preservation that was led by the Punta de Lobos Foundation. What was the basis for such a large effort? What was at risk?
Through community work and concrete actions by the Punta de Lobos Foundation, the iconic "Mirador" land that borders the sea and is the wave's amphitheater was purchased.

Today, this land is a free-access park, protected and intended to allow everyone to have contact with nature. In the park, daily work is being done to try to restore its vegetation and control erosion so that we can enjoy Punta de Lobos forever, that is, in perpetuity.

The greatest risk to this area was real estate expansion and the lack of regulation/inspection that exists on the Chilean coast. With this project, the conservation of this space can be ensured. By protecting the land, the wave was protected.

Who works daily to keep Punta de Lobos as it is?
Although it may not seem true, the work of designing, implementing and maintaining a park is much more expensive than the objective of buying it to protect it. The biggest challenge today is the sustainability of the project.

Our team of park rangers helps with park maintenance, cleaning, restoration and education on a daily basis.

We are a small team, highly motivated and with a clear purpose: to care for and protect this space forever.

What remains to be done in Punta de Lobos to make it even better?
As we mentioned before, the biggest challenge today is the sustainability of Punta de Lobos Park. We are working on different projects both in trail planning and education.

The biggest challenge today is that we can all enjoy the tip without generating a negative impact on it, which is why we need everyone to help take care of this place.

"The biggest challenge today is that we can all enjoy the tip without generating a negative impact on it, which is why we all need to help take care of this place together."

The involvement of all those who enjoy this place is the key to success so that the projects that are already underway and those to come can be carried out. A concrete example is the Lobos por siempre event. We really want it to be something different.

Regarding the law on the protection of breakers that they are trying to promote, as there is in Peru, how feasible do you see this happening in Chile? What are the main challenges for this to happen?
Felipe Rodriguez, part of the Coalition for the Law of Breakers, responds: It is a viable project. In fact, there is already a bill submitted to the Senate. We need to improve it and push it forward.

In Chile we have world-class waves, we could say that we have the best natural stadiums in the world. We just need to take care of them and protect them.

We see the main challenge in empowering coastal communities, all of us who enjoy the waves, to join in this challenge. Without a doubt, it is the users themselves, the locals of the communities themselves, who are in charge of taking care of the places. A bill would help us with the legal tools so that more waves in the country have protection.

In principle, of the 28 competitors, how many do you think will be Latin American? How many locals?
As an organization, more than the number and their origin, we see the people themselves and how committed they are to the cause as more important.

To select the competition format, wave type and guests, a Commission was created led by the iconic surfer Matías Lopez and a committee made up of renowned surfers such as Ramón Navarro, Greg Long, Gabriel Villagran, Kohl Christenten, Diego Medina, Cristian Merello, Patricio Mekis and Mauricio Godoy.

The committee should soon define the list of guests and where they come from. What can be said is that they do want to give priority to locals and Latin Americans to promote surfers from the region but at the same time seek to be the most representative at a global level and have the best.

We don't just want the best surfers in the world to come, we want those who are most committed to the cause and the place to come.

"We don't just want the best surfers in the world to come, we want those who are most committed to the cause and the place to come."

What names do you think will be there? Kai Lenny and Chumbo Chianca, for example, will we be able to see them there?
Why not? Both are among the greatest exponents of big wave surfing today. If they want to come to celebrate surfing, ride incredible waves, protect Punta de Lobos and the sea, they will surely have their space.