Environmental protection in Indonesia

Absolutely!  Fresh water resources remains the most significant challenge we face on Bali going into the future.  And as you say, the sickening irony is the ever increasing attempts by the Department of Tourism to increase tourist arrivals on Bali…rather than increasing the quality of tourism.  For some unknown reason the simple concept that one tourist who spends an average $300.00 a day is far preferable than ten tourists who spend an average of $30.00 a day is not either understood, or appreciated here in Bali.  Those folks who think that more tourists are better should spend some time driving our roads during peak seasons.   

Already in several regencies there are bans in place preventing the drilling of new bores or wells for water.  The lakes in the north central highlands are well below their normal levels…but this has been going on for quite a number of years…thus the “writing on the wall” has been here for a long time for anyone to read of the eventual water crisis we are heading towards.

The problem here isn't the result of salt water intrusion into to the aquifer, rather, that is the result of a diminishing fresh water supply which is caused by diminishing rain fall averages and ever increasing demands on fresh water.  Those increased demands come from a variety of reasons including increased agricultural use of land, population increases, and ever increasing tourist arrivals.

I understand in the buket area and south bali in general there is salt water intrusion

Correct...but the the salt water intrusion is due to the voiding of fresh water. 

A primary cause of salt water intrusion is the pumping out of the fresh water.

I agree and of course it will only get worse as further hotel construction continues , unfortunately as water disappears bali will need  a new business plan when tourism  ends in the south of the island and the people move out .

maybe we could send them in your direction mr ubudian , and disturb your peace , ha ha

Ever so slowly the Balinese are becoming increasingly aware of the long term environmental impact that the wanton development of its land is causing. 

The mantra “greed is good” is waning year after year. 

No doubt, since you also live here, you are aware of this movement “Tolak Reklamasi” (reject reclamation) which is even getting international attention:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ … sm-project

This sort of awareness and grass roots movement among the Balinese is healthy, and for certain it is nothing like what I experienced here 17 years ago when first moving to Bali.  For this reason alone I have a reasonable amount of optimism for our future, and the future of our children who will eventually inherit this paradise.

ya there is a slight change in some part of the of the local thinking re money , but unfortunately I also see a lot of selfishness down here ,people driving around in big 4 wheel drives or harleys because they were fortunate to be left some land, at the same time there is a lot of local poverty. I wonder about the protests re benoa , is it environmental or is it  because the locals will not benefit financially I am not so sure . one thing for sure i do not see any end to continuing constuction of new hotels .

re the water problem and salt ingress, I saw recently in south banyuwangi, which is suffering all the way to the national parks with this very problem people boring  100 to 150 metres to find fresh water , even pdam bores are drying up, is this an indicator of the future in south bali I wonder .

A couple of points from my perspective…

“New found money” for the Balinese, which is generally produced from selling land, is slowly becoming less and less of an incentive, or a “legitimate” reason to go out and buy several new motor bikes, or an SUV or two.  But yes, we've all seen this phenomenon in recent years, and for sure, it still goes on.   

In the Ubud area, I could easily take you to several banjars (villages) where local adat has been changed to such a degree that land within that banjar is forbidden to be sold to outsiders…and by outsiders, I mean even to other non Balinese Indonesians.  In other words, there is change afoot, and it's a serious change indeed.  The change is entirely meant as a survival mechanism, especially as Balinese see for themselves what has happened in the south of Bali. 

To be honest with you, I honestly don't care anymore about what's going on “down South” and in absolute truth, nor do most Balinese living outside that area.  Years ago I often heard quips from Balinese outside of the South saying things like, “sell Kuta to the Australians…it's not Bali anymore anyway.”  And in all truth, one of the most wealthy Balinese living in Ubud, who has very large real estate holdings along Jalan Legian in Kuta, confided in me, “I haven't been down there to inspect my properties in over 10 years…I send my agent instead.” 

Truth be told, there are vast differences between the southern regencies of Bali, and elsewhere.  It would be no exaggeration to say that those differences are like night and day.  With that in mind, it may well already be way, way too late to “save” southern Bali, but this is not the case with the rest of Bali…not by a long shot. 

As for Banyuyangi, you are of course referring to the eastern most end of Java…and not Bali.  From my vast experience, there is very little which goes on there that is similar, or comparable to Bali…even from its closest Bali point…Gilimanuk.   No sense in comparing apples to oranges, IMHO.

I agree with the night and day view , south banyuwangi is very similar to south bali , flat, quite dry , over pumped water table for agriculture , hence the ingress of salt water, and mega deep bores , empty pdam pipes .

Hey Kenjee,

Very good question! I am pretty concerned me too considering I am an expat in Bali, Indonesia. I bought an old Pertamina barrel and customized it to collect bottles of plastic or glass then I install it in front of my house and now my neighbors drop their bottles of glass and plastic in it

But lately, a social initiative I discovered here in Bali, Indonesia it's Bye Bye Plastic Bags, driven by children to say no to plastic bags on Bali by 2018.

They have a TED speech, it's amazing these 2 girls are my heroes,  it is moving!

Sedikit-sedikit (one step at the time)

Indeed, that "Ted Talk" is amazing (as is the entire Green School initiative), and it's been linked to several times already on this forum. 

in fact, if you read post #3 on this string, that was the major point of that post.

Sorry I only read the main post