CANBERRA, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Surfing injects billions of dollars into Australia's economy every year according to new research.

In a study published on Wednesday researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) surveyed 569 Australian surfers on how much they spent on surfing over the previous 12 months, including on domestic travel, new boards, wetsuits and other surf-related accessories.

They found that, on average, adult surfers spend 3,700 Australian dollars (2,469.4 U.S. dollars) per year on the sport.

Based on data from government agency the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) showing there are more than 720,000 active adult surfers in Australia, the researchers concluded that surfing injects at least 2.71 billion AUD (1.8 billion USD) into the nation's economy every year.

"This is a conservative figure at best because it doesn't factor in overseas visitors who travel to Australia to go surfing or money generated through professional surfing," Ana Manero, lead author of the study from ANU, said in a media release.

Among participants in the survey, 94 percent said that surfing had a positive impact on their mental and physical wellbeing and ability to deal with stress in their life and 80 percent said it helped foster a sense of connectedness to their community.

The report warned that Australia's surf spots are under threat from climate change, coastal erosion, poor water quality and overcrowding pressures.

"Surf breaks are valuable natural assets, but waves only form under a very delicate set of conditions that can be easily altered by anything that we do to the coast," Manero said.

In one example, Mareno said the expansion of a marina in Western Australia (WA) in 2022 caused the disappearance of three surf breaks.

She called for Australia to follow the example of New Zealand and Peru by adopting formal legal protections to preserve surfing environments.