Marine development destroying coastal environment
The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali
The images of sparkling and pristine sandy beaches have for years lured tourists from around the world to Bali.
With around 470 kilometers of shoreline, the sea plays a very significant role in the social and religious activities of the Balinese Hindu community.
The sea is worshiped as sacred, with many major Hindu temples like Tanah Lot located near the clear, blue waters.
However, Bali's coastal areas have been excessively exploited for various tourism-related industries since the early 1980s, causing serious environmental degradation in the process.
A recent study carried out jointly by the Bali provincial government, the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) Center for Marine and Coastal Resources and a number of local environmental NGOs has painted a bleak picture of the future of Bali's marine and coastal areas.
"Bali has everything; beautiful beaches, white sands, diverse marine species and amazing underwater life, but so far various development projects have been conducted improperly," IPB's marine expert Dietrich G. Bengen said during a workshop for journalists on marine potential carried out by the Bali-based WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) Indonesia Wallacea Bioregion Programme recently.
He said a number of spots like Tanjung Benoa, Sanur, Jimbaran and Kuta beaches had suffered major environmental damage due to various tourism-related development projects. Candi Dasa in Karangasem, the gateway to eastern Bali that was developed into a popular tourist destination, now faces serious erosion by the sea.
Bali waters, he said, house thousands of amazing marine species, many of which were endangered.
Kuta beach is home to abundant marine species, including donax shells and bubber crabs which live below the sand's surface. Octopus, dove shells, turban shells and lobster are also found in this water.
At Sanur beach, which is protected from the force of ocean waves by coral reefs, one can find starfish, sea cucumbers and hermit crabs.
The last mangrove forest on Bali fringes Benoa Bay where at low tide, the mud teems with fiddler crabs.
According to the study, the lack of infrastructures and proper regulations had hampered the development of marine tourism on the island. So far, marine tourism in several remote areas in Buleleng regency and Jembrana are still underdeveloped.
The study also pointed out a number of issues -- like water pollution, environmental degradation and social and economic problems hindering the local population -- related to the development of marine tourism in Bali, suggesting any development activities in the island's coastal areas fully involve locals from the planning phase to development and monitoring.
Such development should also be adjusted to the local conditions -- nature, social, economic and cultural conditions.
"A lack of proper regulations and law enforcement have endangered the life of valuable marine species and destroyed coral reefs," Bengen said.
The study also disclosed significant problems taking place on the coastal areas like sea erosion, water pollution, overfishing and destructive fishing.
Sea erosion has been the most crucial problem in Bali and anywhere else in the country, but excessive development programs on the shorelines, like the construction of hotels, resorts and other tourist facilities, have exacerbated the problem.
Reclamation of coastal and mangrove forests in Bali, like the expansion of Ngurah Rai airport in Kuta, is blamed for causing further environmental degradation as such projects destroy coral reefs and mangrove forests -- crucial factors to maintaining an ecological balance along the coast.
Excessive dumping of both industrial and household waste -- fluid or solid -- causes water pollution, while overfishing and destructive fishing using dynamite and poisons have caused severe destruction to the marine ecosystem.
According to the study, improper marine tourism development like diving and snorkeling could possibly endanger marine life if related officials do not strictly monitor it.
All of the development's stakeholders -- the government, businesses and the local community -- were urged to work hand in hand to improve and preserve valuable and abundant marine resource on the island immediately.
Otherwise Bali and its people will lose more priceless resources.