ECHO OF THE WAVES

At Polynesia's Olympic surfing venue, people fight for a reef and a way of life

On the remote south coast of Tahiti, French Polynesia, its Jurassic peaks and azure lagoon accessible only by boat, Patrick Rochette is explaining how centuries-old Polynesian conservation traditions are being revived to protect this unique environment.

Mingled with gruesome tales of the island's history of tribal wars and the roots of wave-riding, it's a compelling account that resonates with the school children that the Tahitian elder has brought to this idyllic spot close to the Olympic surfing venue of Teahupo'o.

Among the interconnected Polynesian concepts lost or repressed during Tahiti's French colonization that Rochette describes: respect for tupuna, the ancestors; mana, the spiritual power of people and places; tapu, which is sacred; rahui, a restriction or prohibition; and the guardians — the whales, sharks, turtles.