Bali- Islands in Transition

December 1999 - January 2000

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.

by Howard Stiff

It appears that the times they are a changing for the scattered islands of Indonesia. Nationwide, things seem to be improving on the political front. Totalitarian governance is out, democratic pluralism is in. Iron-fisted control of national policy and the media is waning, increased regional autonomy (and, in the case of East Timor, independence) is on the rise.

Bali is heavily populated and intensely cultivated

Demographically however, growth continues relatively unabated by the past government's 'Two Is Enough' campaign, and Indonesians are expected to more than double in population size in the next 25 years. Sustaining this burgeoning population is a concern: economic collapse in the past two years has cost Indonesia 30 million jobs, and annual per capita income has fallen from $2000 to $400. Unfortunately, these conditions mean increased dependence on the natural resource base for survival.

Nor will the island of Bali, centrally located within the Indonesian archipelago, go unaffected. Despite a unique and intact cultural identity and a large measure of economic self-sufficiency based on tourism and rice production, the island is particularly susceptible due to the fact that the negative impacts of rapid development directly affect tourism and agriculture both. Bali is facing a growing number of environmental threats.

Air pollution from inexpensive but low-grade Indonesian oil and gasoline which has, in the past decade, fuelled a gross congestion of the narrow island roads with innumerable motor vehicles.

Improper garbage disposal, resulting in leachates polluting water supplies. Newly introduced plastics have replaced traditional banana-leaf food plates (which were generally discarded into the streets and consumed by animals), but there has been little change in the means of disposal (except the animals don't eat them).

Poorly planned development and reclamation projects, often associated with hotel complexes and airports. For example, waterfront hotel construction often results in destruction and in-filling of ecologically-important mangrove swamps, the nurseries of many ocean animals. Hotel garbage is often buried in shallow beach pits, only to be uncovered by wave action. Beach ecology is impacted by poorly planned construction, as in the case of the erosion of Kuta Beach since construction of the nearby international airport.

Perhaps the gravest threat to regional environmental stability is coral reef degradation. Indonesia's 17,000 islands, stretched 5,000 km across the equator, lie at the heart of the planet's most diverse and abundant coral ecology, but the reefs are rapidly coming under attack from the combined polluting effects of sewage, pollution, fertilizers, pesticides, commercial logging, land-clearing, and related sedimentation. The ecological balance has been disrupted by overfishing, blast-fishing (with dynamite) and cyanide fishing (which kills nine fish for every live one sold to the lucrative aquarium fish industry). Over-extraction of coral rock and sand are also taking their toll. In parts of Bali, coral beds are scraped away and converted to seaweed farms for export of carageenan and other seaweed products. Tourism is part of the problem too, as visitors ground their boats over, drop anchors on, drag dive gear across, step onto, chop down for coffee table curios, and contaminate with sun screen lotions, the coral reefs.

Although Indonesia has enacted strong legislation to protect coral reefs in designated marine parks, funding and resources are not available for effective management. Information on reef health is variable. Scientific studies have been conducted for less than 10 percent of the reefs.

Fortunately, research on coral reefs, mangroves, and sea-grass beds has begun with the implementation of the ASEAN- Australian and ASEAN-U.S. environmental programs, and the Fisheries Stock Assessment Collaborative Research Support Program of USAID in the mid to late 1980s. The first two programs involve researchers across the region in coordinated training, method development and field research; the latter is focused on development of methods and analytical approaches, and training. As well, a small host of non-governmental organizations have cropped up to increase environmental awareness among Indonesian people and visitors alike.

Such is the purpose of the PPLH (Pusat Pendidikan Lingkungan Hidup) Environmental Education Center in Bali. Located in the budget-minded but upbeat Hotel Santai in downtown Sanur, PPLH is a user-friendly facility which boasts a well-stocked library, a conference room, several computers with Internet access, an eco-friendly gift shop, a health food restaurant, and simple, affordable tourist accommodations. PPLH Bali is part of a network of education centers across the country focusing on marine problems, ecotourism, urban gardening, water and waste management.

Director Marthen Welly speaks excitedly about the project. 'Eco-tourism is particularly important, as tourism is the main industry in Bali. We consult with tour operators to initiate ecotourism, and we promote these services to tourists. An important aspect of this is the development and publicity of eco-friendly hotels and training for environmentally-friendly management. By changing attitudes and behaviour towards the environment, PPLH also aims to instill a sense of individual responsibility in the use of natural resources, which we believe is vital for sustainable development of this country.'

For more information on ENGO activity in Indonesia, contact Marthen Welly pplhbali@denpasar.wasantara.net.id
Web http:// www.webcom.com/pplh