Bali's nature fading

Bali's nature fading

From Bali Post

Often, I am nostalgic for the environment of Bali during my childhood in the seventies, when I could play after school was over. Nature offered so many things to play with, that dusk came too soon and it seemed I had too little time to enjoy everything.

Among my hobbies was flying kites during the kite season, when we used to go to the causeways between rice fields for this activity. We were also fond of catching crickets in the grassy areas of the paddies, particularly during planting season, with the rice stalks stretching across the fields like green carpets. Dragonflies and butterflies were so abundant and easy to catch, while crows were everywhere, flying about and perching on shady trees.

We were so happy during harvest season for fruits, reaping guavas, mangoes and various other fruits. We really enjoyed every moment, even though we didn't have any technology-based games like PlayStations and Internet cafes.

Where have all those childhood delights gone today? Can our children fly kites on asphalt roads or between high-rise buildings? Can we find fruits to pick on farmland where cafes are now built? The land and river banks are now owned by different people of diverse cultural backgrounds. And where can the kids catch butterflies, if there are no flowers or trees? Or are they happier now than their parents were in the past?

Various greenbelts in Denpasar have also been converted into buildings without proper control by the relevant city apparatus.

This calls to mind community figures who have great visions regarding city planning and Bali's cultural preservation, like Nyoman Gelebet and Ida Pedanda Gede Made Gunung. Let's hope they are capable of maintaining Bali's high values, or perhaps of restoring its natural conditions to what they used to be during the 1960s-1970s.

GEDE PUTRA SURYANINGRAT Denpasar, Bali