Nusa Dua, Bali - With two terrorist attacks, SARS, an avian flu outbreak and travel warnings imposed by several developed countries, the island of Bali is suffering from tourism setbacks.
Bali, one of world`s favorite tourist destinations, has been the backbone of Indonesia`s tourism industry, with the majority of foreign tourist arrivals entry point, the island`s Ngurah Rai International Airport.
The island`s beautiful landscape, rich culture and traditions attract around 1.5 million foreign visitors every year.
“But its beauty and attractions have faded. Bali can no longer call itself a paradise island,” a participant from Poland commented during the UNFCCC side-event discussion on tourism here in Nusa Dua on Tuesday.
Bali`s beaches are eroding and degraded with rubbish scattered everywhere. The once green areas of rice fields are filled with concrete buildings. Streets are narrow and crowded with cars and motor cycles. Mangrove forests are gone and green belt areas are disappearing.
Even in the previously barren zone of the Nusa Dua luxury tourist enclave, developed with the assistance of the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), many five-star hotels are not yet using eco-friendly energy, he added.
“Developments of tourism facilities are not supported by the adequate construction of infrastructures, making Bali an unattractive tourist destination,” he added.
Indonesian State Minister for Culture and Tourism, Jiro Wacik, and one of the panelists in the tourism discussion, admitted there were crucial problems in maintaining the natural and cultural environment of Bali.
“We (the Indonesian government and Bali provincial administration) have been making some progress in improving the island`s tourism master plan,” Wacik said.
The minister pointed out there is a moratorium on the rapid construction of hotels, villas and other buildings, especially those which are planned for green areas, including fertile lands, former rice fields and along the river banks.
“Bali has enough hotel rooms and tourist facilities,” the minister said.
Currently, there are around 30,000 hotel rooms available.But the reality is in stark contrast to a building moratorium. Apartments, luxury villas and restaurants are sprouting like mushrooms in the rainy season. Around 1,000 hectares of rice fields have been lost under various development projects.
Dr. Tom Goreau, an expert in coral conservation, added to the gloomy picture on the island of Bali. “Coral reefs in Bali were almost destroyed because of natural and human factors,” Goreau said.
The loss of coral reefs will endanger fish habitat. “This loss will hurt the fishing industry which is made up of poor local farmers,” he said adding the loss of coral reefs also caused erosion and the loss of beaches.
“I call on all hotel managements operating in Bali to take care of the beaches in front of their properties,” he said.
Recognizing the long tradition of Balinese of preserving the natural environment, Minister Wacik said the government had been looking at how that model could be widely instituted.
“We have been trying to adopt the local wisdom of environment preservation in Bali and elsewhere in Indonesia,” the minister explained.
Looking into the past for lessons on how to mitigate the impacts of climate change, while at the same time keeping its allure to foreign tourists, is one of the available alternatives in practicing sustainable tourism.
“The local wisdoms within traditional communities in Indonesia are closely related with the environment. They are respecting and loving of the environment in the form of prohibitions or ceremonies. Those prohibitions and ceremonies become the traditions and culture of traditional communities,” former tourism minister I Gede Ardika said during a seminar on tourism in Sanur on Monday.
He explained that Indonesia is a nation with rich cultures and traditions, and one of the shared religious values held by its divergent people is “the balance life principle”.
The principle requires harmonious relations between human beings and God, among human beings, and between human beings and their natural environment.
He cited the three best examples of the country`s local wisdoms, the tumpek holiday in Bali, the sasi in Maluku Islands, and the nomad planting system of the Dayaks in Kalimantan.
The people of Dayak Benuaq, one of 23 Dayak groups in Kalimantan, have divided the forest into six categories, the virgin forest that does not belong to their territory to exploit and should be protected--forests for hunting and collecting non-wood products and forests for timber.
The other three categories include forests for non-irrigated agriculture, forests for plantation and forests for growing fruits.
“The Benuaq people have traditional methods in managing their forests,” Ardika said. “After the harvest, the area will be lie fallow for around six years to regain the soil fertility.
“The people keep moving from one area to the other. After around six years, they will return to the same place,” he said. The system is called perladangan gilir balik or nomadic non-irrigated agriculture.
Ardika said that such the system protects the forested areas from fires, floods or land slides. “It has been practiced consistently for centuries by the Benuaq people,” Ardika said.
The Haruku community in Maluku islands has used the concept of sasi, a set of rules with regard to the taking of certain natural resources at certain place and at certain times.
Inspired by Hinduism, the Balinese adopted the concept of Tri Hita Karana.
“It is a concept of harmony and balance of life principles. The prosperity of human beings is through the balanced relationships of `parahyangan` (relationship with God), `pawongan` (relationships with other people), `palemahan` (nature),” Ardika said.
“The Balinese are required to respect nature. No activity should harm the natural world.”
Source: www.thejakartapost.com (14 Desember 2007)
