Marine development destroying coastal environment

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.