Bali. Sustainability. Is it even possible?

As well as being a music and performance space, Betel Nut often provides a forum for the exchange of ideas. On Tuesday evening last week, environmental activist Emerald Starr gave some alarming statistics about development, tourism and sustainability on the island.

The statistics were overwhelming and I didn't take notes, but included data on tourist arrivals in the past 40 years. At the end of the 1960s the number of domestic and international arrivals was something over 6000 each year. By 2015, projected figures are 20 million. The average stay for visitors from Asia is two to three days. Just enough to do some shopping, hop on a bus for a quick tour and maybe visit a nightclub. No time for culture and tradition. Although some of the arrival taxes go towards expenditure on the island, the bulk goes to the central government in Jakarta. The golden egg laid by the tourist goose is close to being cooked.

Project after project to ostensibly feed demand sees unrestricted development occurring, particularly in the south. This is not being driven by need, as apparently there are already too many official and unofficial beds here, and occupancy rates are low anyway. Also, apparently, the planning laws are there to be enforced, but there is no political will to enforce them. Too many people have too much to gain by flouting them.

The results are outcomes such as development on the beaches that threaten delicate limestone ecologies, and monkeys being driven out of their natural habitat to become thieves in the villas that have replaced it.

Before we all came, and it feels that tourism is yet another wave of colonisation in the history of this island, the people lived the simple, organic life that most Westerners still seek here. Waste was organic - offerings and other natural materials were returned to the earth. It is us who have brought the plastic bags that litter the streets and clog the drains. In our luxury hotels and villas, we give little thought to what becomes to the stuff we discard as long as we can't see it around us. But what happens, of course, is that it is discarded the way rubbish has always been - dumped in the jungle, down a ravine or in a river. Or burned.

There were few Balinese in the audience on Tuesday. It was mostly Western people like us who love the island, many of whom have lived here for decades. But is took a Balinese to point out that our values are not Balinese values, and while the litter is distressing to us, Balinese people have different priorities, mostly just trying to survive. Tourism brings work, and if it also brings waste, well tidak apa apa.

The question was asked if something could be done at banjar level - the heart of social structure in the Balinese village. Perhaps once, we were told, but these days the banjar's political and social responsibilities have been taken over by the central government. The banjar takes cares of ceremonial business and that's pretty well it.


It was all extremely depressing and yet again raised the question we have been asking ourselves over a number of trips - are we part of the problem, or part of the solution? Should we just go home? Are we patronising the Balinese by imposing our values on them or should we persist in trying to find a solution based on our Western experience and understanding?

None of this is easy. There are a few locally-driven organisations that deserve support, but, although as individuals we can act responsibly, ultimately the drive for a cleaner Bali has to come from within to generate the political will for change.

• Wahli - Bali Friends of the Earth 
• PPLH Bali - Bali Environmental Education Center
• Wisnu Foundation
• Yayasan Gus
• Bali Cantik Tanpa Plastik

As I said, depressing. But also extremely thought provoking.

Further reading:

 

Relentless Tourism Spawns Trouble in Paradise (SMH)

How Mass Tourism is Destroying Bali and its Culture (Le Monde)

Beauty of Bali Under Threat from Pressures of Mass Tourism (Guardian)

2012: A Bad Year for Bali's Environment (Bali Discovery)

BI Supports Bali's Inclusive Development (Bali Daily, Jakarta Post)

Case Study on Bali from Murdoch University. Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy

Sometimes ...

Sometimes you just have to wonder. Whenever we are walking, local people never fail to smile, greet, and of course some will hope that you will need their taxi, eat in their restaurant or to buy something from their shop. Return greetings and even polite refusals are accepted, often accompanied by a joke. The Balinese appear to have a great sense of humour and we have been told by many that they like Australians because we laugh at the same things. But most (many, by no means all) of the Westerners we encounter in passing stare ahead grim-faced or lower their gaze, failing to acknowledge that we are sharing the same narrow, pathway or pavement. City or countryside, it's the same. No smile, nod or greeting in return for our pagi or siang. You have to wonder why they are here, as they don't seem to be enjoying themselves.

And how difficult is it to acknowledge someone who invites you to try their food, or stop for a drink? It's salutory to be sitting in a cafe close to the pavement as the young Balinese staff greet each passer by. They might as well be invisible. No acknowledgment nearly every time. It must be demoralising to be constantly ignored. It's not hard to smile, shake your head, say no in a pleasant way, give some indication that you understand that they are trying to make a living even if on this occasion you can't contribute to it. Yes, it is tiring to be asked every few minutes, but a little pleasantness seems to go a long way.

Fortunately Ubud is not Kuta so we are spared some of the uglier aspects of Western behavour including public drunkenness and the wearing of offensive T-shirts. Kuta has grown as it has in response to demand, pure and simple. A certain type of visitor demands this rubbish and you can't really blame anyone who wants to profit from it. But it has certainly degraded life on some parts of the coast.

Life is quieter here, but even so we have witnessed disrespect on a number of occasions: the singlet-clad young males who lounged all over a cremation pyre laughing and joking as they waited for the ceremony to begin; the motorcyclist who ignored the angry protestations of the pecalang* as he wove his way through another funeral procession when all traffic at both ends had stopped in respect; and memorably, the road rage of yet another motorcyclist who, in frustration at being stuck behind a small bus in traffic, spat at the bus in full view of passengers, veered onto the pavement and almost knocked over an elderly Balinese woman carrying offerings on her head as he sped off. The traffic here can be horrendous but it is negotiated by a language of horns and delicate weaving that seems to be intuitively understood. Road rage? Not a chance of it starting with a Balinese person. We bring our anger and lack of respect with us to the (usually) polite bemusement of those who live here. It is impossible to know the nationalities of people like these, but we are all diminished by their actions.

Sometimes you just have to wonder.

*There is an interesting article about the role of pecalang, seen in the photo above, here.