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The Balinese and Environmental
Issues
Desires
of activists and environmentalists to preserve
the physical environment keep on reverberating
all over the world. But strangely, the actions
that damage the environment and exploit
the nature excessively persistently occur
in several hemispheres. By justification
that it aims at improving economic development
of the community, law or legislation on
the environment is easily broken and the
criminals never feel unflinching to be sentenced.
Not excluding mass tourism development that
also gives contribution to the occurrence
of environmental damage. Development of
several tourism infrastructures such as
hotels, restaurant or immoderate golf courses
causes environmental damage.
Quoting Anthony S. Travis (1992) in Physical
Impact: Trends Affecting Tourism, important
factors to identify negative impacts of
tourism toward the environment are: (1)
annihilation and pollution, chiefly occurring
on water including groundwater and surface
water, land and air; (2) changes on the
use of land—agricultural and forest
field are carried-over to tourism infrastructure
and facility so productive land changes
into unproductive one; (3) the loss of flora
and fauna—large numbers of travelers
that visit certain destinations can result
in disturbance on flora or fauna which then
they leave such a place and find out more
secure new habitat; (4) increase of urbanization—that
indirectly causes view alteration on urban
planning, particularly that caused by its
physical development.
If you are spending vacation in Bali now,
what was mentioned by Anthony S. Travis
can be easily observed. Do not be surprised
and please be acknowledged if during your
journey you see the water in the river is
muddy and full of waste, shopping complexes
or multitiered buildings that are not well
organized. Rice fields in Bali that formerly
were admired due to their terraced structure,
now changes into roads and then on the left
and right side sit residential complexs,
hotels, bungalows and so forth. Even, some
are unorganized and came to be uncultivated
land because its owner is a rich man that
domiciles outside Bali. Current numbers
of local migrants from outside Bali are
hard to control so this results in several
socio-cultural, security and orderliness
problems that may cause inconvenience to
your holiday.
The ambience of Bali Island really has changed
so much. However, you need not worry to
come and spend your holiday in Bali. Balinese
community and authority of Bali Province
try to do its best unceasingly to maintain
the preservation of Bali’s environment,
improve the environmental security system
and reinforce social community system that
related to the means of customary village.
In Denpasar city, for instance, is now being
executed Denpasar Sewerage Development Project
(DSDP) to make the environmental quality
better. Unfortunately, the carrying out
of this project frequently causes traffic
jam and, probably, a bit inconvenience for
your journey. For this, once again, should
be acknowledged. This is the consequence
of urban development that has less thorough
planning and is seasonal project system.
Away in the nook and cranny’s of rural
corner, at foot of the mountain or beachside,
you are still able to enjoy the allurement
and convenience of Bali Island’s nature.
When you have been satisfied to go shopping
at malls or art shops downtown or along
the road, you’d better go to nice-looking
and convenient places while looking at closer
the pattern of life and cultural tradition
of the Balinese. Or you can listen to the
story of Balinese ancestors on the environmental
preservation and their life dependency to
nature.
They have an interesting story on relation
of human to nature. The interdependency
relation of human and nature is analogized
as the life of a tiger and forest. The tiger
keeps the forest sincerely against disturbance
of wicked man and, the other way round,
the dense forest is glad to protect the
habitat of the tiger and provides abundant
food. This means that if human maintains
the nature well so the nature will also
give safety and protect human life. Efforts
to maintain the nature well is realized
in ritual procession that is called Tumpek
Bubuh (ritual for plants), Tumpek Kandang
(for animals) and Tumpek Landep (for tools
to earn living). By comprehending the function
and meaning of such rituals for the sake
of environmental conservation, so the ancestors
of the Balinese, for instance, did not cut
down the trees carelessly. To get bonfire,
they should select the twig and dry leaves
that has fallen and scattered on the ground
that is called ipil-ipil. They also brought
their children to plant the trees together
and even theirs were carried on the back
on planting coconut seedling.
Therefore, the Balinese through ritual procession
of Tumpek Bubuh, Tumpek Kandang and Tumpek
Landep takes human beings all over the world
to stay keeping the physical environment
well so that human does not lose resources
of foodstuff, clothing and housing—food,
clothing and housing are primary human needs.
If you happen to be on holiday in Bali at
this time, do not be surprised to see the
Balinese put offerings on the trees or priest
lead the rituals in the midst of the garden.
To participate in the celebration of the
Environmental Day on the upcoming 4 June
2005, it would be advisable to you to have
a promenade to village corners of Bali while
observing the old ‘ipil-ipil’,
looking for the twig and dry leaves for
cooking. If you have any interest, it would
be also better for you to adopt the traditional
and cultural values of the Balinese in preserving
the physical environment. Learning from
the tradition of ipil-ipil is taking advantage
the natural resources to fulfill the life
needs, not satisfy the greedy passion. By
this, environmental conservation will be
well maintained.
Ketut Sumadi
Contributor of Bali Travel News
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