TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Sanur to hold mangrove cleanup campaign
“Save mangrove forests from being choked to death by floating plastic garbage,” a message read on a pamphlet circulated by Ecosanur, a community-based environmental organization in Sanur
Change Size
“Save mangrove forests from being choked to death by floating plastic garbage,” a message read on a pamphlet circulated by Ecosanur, a community-based environmental organization in Sanur.
The group will hold a cleanup operation open to volunteers on Oct. 31, in the area around Pura Pengembak in Sanur.
The “Sanur Community Cleanup Day” is expected to involve hundreds of participants concerned about environmental degradation in Sanur and its surrounding areas, the event’s field coordinator Wayan Danes said Sunday.
“We have already registered around 150 participants from various groups, including Japan Club, Rotary Club, Bali Fokus Foundation and a bike community. We still need more volunteers,” he told The Jakarta Post.
“The more the better, because it will enable us to clean more areas around the temple. Students, hotels and local residents are also going to participate.”
He said the aim of the event was to clean up garbage on the coast that had been brought in by the sea and rivers.
He said the rubbish would eventually wash into and clog up rivers, which would in turn damage mangroves.
“We would be putting the species in danger by doing nothing,” he said.
The amount of plastic waste in Bali has been increasing due to dumping and a general lack of environmental awareness.
The public’s nonchalant attitude toward using excessive amounts of plastic for packaging is a major cause of the increase in plastic waste.
Data from the provincial environmental agency showed that Bali produced 5,000 cubic meters of garbage per day, 6 percent of which was plastic.
Badung and Denpasar, the two most populous regions on the island, account for half of the island’s waste production.
Danes said mangroves were a vital element in the coastal ecosystem.
There are approximately 3,000 hectares of mangrove forests in Bali, including 451 hectares in Jembrana, 602 hectares in Buleleng, 202 hectares in Nusa Lembongan and 88 hectares in Tabanan.
The largest mangrove forest area on the island — covering 1,373 hectares — is in Ngurah Rai Grand Forest Park, which stretches from Sanur to Nusa Dua.
Anyone wishing to volunteer for the cleanup day should bring their own boots, gloves and tools. “This event is open to anyone who cares about mangroves and our environment,” Danes said.
To register for the cleanup, contact Wayan Danes on 081338431344 or Kompyang Sudiana on 03617889872. On-site registration will run from 7:30 a.m. until 10 a.m. at Pura Pengembak, Sanur.
