Rita Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar
As one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, Bali has been carrying heavy social and environmental burdens in recent years.
Millions of international and domestic travelers visit this small, yet beautiful island every year, adding to its 3.2 million population.
The once pristine island has been transforming into a crowded place with endless luxury hotels, villas, restaurants, boutiques, malls and recreation centers. Bali's white beaches, serene mountains, villages and lakes are beginning to lose their charms as litter scatters in every corner. Cars, motorcycles and buses roar through the narrow streets of Kuta, Legian, Seminyak and other hotspots, creating noise and air pollution.
""Bali has been crying out for help. It can no longer carry such a huge load,"" said Adnyana Manuaba, head of Udayana University's Ecology Study Center in Denpasar.
The rapid growth of the tourism industry has significantly boosted the local economy, yet it has also contributed to massive environmental degradation as well as numerous social problems.
The provincial government and local communities cannot work alone in facing these developments.
""Every stakeholder in business and community has an obligation and responsibility to preserve the environment,"" Manuaba stressed.
In response to this call, the Bali Hotel Association (BHA) -- whose members comprise the island's star-rated hotels with more than 30,000 rooms combined -- is taking a number of initiatives to ""clean up, fix up and conserve the island's environment"".
BHA environment executive Amanda Pummer said the association had thus launched its Clean Up Weekend.
Started in September in connection with the global Clean Up the World program, BHA invited its members and local communities, tourists, villages and schools to start cleaning up their own neighborhoods.
""With the support of Clean Up the World, we hope to bring together the many non-governmental organizations, tourism industries, banjar, schools, tourists and local citizens to collect as much rubbish from their own communities in order for others to reconsider their waste management on the island of the gods,"" said Pummer. ""We urge the community to join us in making our part of the world a cleaner place to live.""
Clean Up the World chairman and founder Ian Kiernan said that the program was the first step toward making one's community a cleaner, healthier place to live.
""BHA, together with Clean Up Seminyak and Clean Up Tabanan, is an excellent example of how individually and collectively we can make a difference for the environment,"" said Kiernan.
Clean Up the World was started in 1993 in Sydney, Australia, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The campaign brings together community groups, schools, governments, businesses and individuals to undertake activities to improve water quality, clean up local streets, parks, waterways and forests, and to educate children about the environment.
In addition to the Clean Up program, BHA members are also making their own efforts in improving the environmental condition.
Conrad Bali Resort and Spa in Tanjung Benoa has pledged to support the community and to protect the environment.
""We have started our Environmental Study Program for school students in Bali and we have been actively involved in various conservation programs, including turtle conservation and breeding programs,"" said Ruth Zuckerman, Conrad Bali's public relations director.
Its resort management and environment committee regularly visit local schools and invite them to join the hotel's Environmental Study Program. The program includes visits to mangrove forests in Tanjung Benoa to generate pro-tactical ideas to help clean up a natural area that is currently being utilized as a dumping ground. The students are also driven around Tanjung Benoa to assess the effect of the community on natural ecosystems, such as coral reefs and mangrove forests. A series of educational and entertainment programs have been organized to spread messages on preserving the environment.
""It has been a positive educational experience for all. The host school gave access to their neighborhoods, something many students of bilingual and international schools in Bali had never seen before,"" Zuckerman said.
The Conrad Bali, a recipient of the Green Globe award, is a major influence within its community and surrounding areas, and has taken a step forward in embracing the need for an open and positive approach in finding solutions to problems resulting from development.
The Bali Intercontinental Resort in Jimbaran has a number of innovative community-based programs in place.
Since March 2006, the resort has collaborated with the Yudhistira Foundation and Bali International School students to care for the stray dogs found on almost every street in Bali. Some are healthy, but the majority of these dogs suffer from lack of food, skin diseases and other health problems.
""We catch them and cure them. Veterinarians from the foundation also carry out sterilization programs for female street dogs,"" Intercontinental PR director Dewi Anggraeni said.
In addition, the resort has launched its Be Guardian Angel for Balinese Orphanage program, in which the hotel management and its guests can become donors to one of dozens of orphanages in Bali. It also has active education programs to help local schools achieve their targets.
Education and community-based activities and supporting the arts have become major targets for many Balinese hotels and resorts.
""We pay very close attention to the development of education of children living in our neighborhood in particular and in other parts of Bali in general,"" said Prami Pratiwi, PR director of the Ritz-Carlton Bali.
""One of our other goals is to enrich the lives of those less fortunate and make lasting contributions to our communities,"" she added. ""Some of Ritz-Carlton community programs support schools for disabled students in providing donations, school supplies, human resources development through seminars and training for both teachers and students.
""Community involvement has always been an integral part of our heritage,"" she said.
Meanwhile, the Melia Bali Resort and Spa offers support to poor families whose members are sick.
""Our staff regularly visit these families and provide daily needs and other assistance,"" said PR manager Cindy Lestary.
Up in the hills of Ubud, a number of resorts such as the Kamandalu and Anahata have programs to promote the development of the arts and small-scale businesses in the area.
Kamandalu general manager Drajat Darmawan said the resort held a number of arts activities to raise funds for art school students.
""We frequently invite local artists to hold an exhibition here. We also try to purchase their artwork and display them in the resort,"" he said.
Anahata owner Onnie Djatmiko has programs to develop local human resources: ""It is our obligation to improve the living conditions of the local people.
""We are grateful to Bali and its people.
