Garden Of Life

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Many of the visitors who come to Bali wish to give back to this island that they love so much, and to the people who have been so hospitable and welcoming to them during their visit, but when faced with more than one way of making Bali a better place, there is an urge to support more than one needy cause. So what do you do when, after looking at all the facts, you can’t decide which is the best charity to support? Enter the Garden of Life.

There is a broad range of charities and reputable organisations in Bali all doing wonderful work to create awareness, support the under-privileged, and address the many environmental challenges that the island faces due to mass tourism, unbridled consumption and climate change.

However, the hardest challenge for these charities is to secure a constant flow of cash to allow for meaningful work. “Imagine how many more people could be helped if this task could be taken on by someone else, thereby allowing the charities to focus on expanding and helping even more people?” This is the question posed by Ronny Tome, cofounder of the ‘Garden of Life,’ a Non- Governmental Organisation, which aims to support Bali’s charities through the creation of a sustainable business model that will generate enough funds to help the people who are working towards change. The answer is the Garden of Life Foundation, which has the vision to preserve the beauty and magic of Bali by significantly raising the profile of its well-respected charitable causes and social enterprises in the areas of health, education, technology, community engagement, cultural heritage, and the environment. This objective is being achieved through the construction of the Flower of Life, an architectural eco-monument set within a picturesque 13-hectare ecopark near Jatiluwih in Bali’s Tabanan Regency.

The design of the monument is based on the principles of sacred geometry and one of nature’s great phenomena, the golden ratio, which can be found incorporated in all known organic structures. From the hexagons of a honeycomb to the seed pattern of a sunflower’s disk, to the spiral of a sea shell, the golden ratio seems to be a geometrical blueprint for life itself.

The monument will comprise 429,822 solar-power-generating glass hexagons assembled in the shape of the ‘Flower of Life’ – one of the oldest sacred symbols known to man – and built upon large ‘tree trunks’. Each hexagon will be covered with energy generating interlayers of photovoltaic cells that are expected to generate up to one megawatt of energy, which will be used to take care of all the power needs of the site and will be partially re-fed into the Balinese energy grid to support the local community. The Flower of Life is expected to create the world’s biggest crowd-funded energy field, and will stand as a sustainable and meaningful legacy for future generations of Balinese and vistors to the island. Individuals, groups and corporate businesses worldwide are invited to contribute to its construction. All donors of US$100 or more will be honoured with a tree planted in their name within the Garden of Life, and donors of US$250 or more will additionally have one of the hexagons permanently engraved with their name and birth date. Through this action, they will be joining a global community of people who share the same vision for Bali, and they will be contributing their energy to the largest energy matrix on Earth.

The eco-park will become a major tourist attraction, and a unique location for corporate and cultural events. Providing a peaceful, meditative, garden environment for visitors, and symbolising togetherness, as well as the interdependence and sacredness of life, it will draw attention to the social and environmental challenges that Bali faces, while educating people about the solutions. Income from entrance fees, and retail sales of specialty products from Charity Partners, will enable the Garden of Life to support those in need across the island. The Charity Partners at this stage include the Muntigunung Poverty Eradication Programme; Yayasan Bumi Sehat (Healthy Mother Earth Foundation); Solemen – helping Bali’s disadvantaged; L Wellness Asia, a global leader in the development and deployment of appropriate technology for village-based coconut empowerment; the Bye Bye Plastic Bags initiative; and the Karang Lestari Foundation, which is the world’s biggest coral reef conservation and restoration programme.

The Foundation’s board is comprised of philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and leading Balinese figures in the fields of community-based tourism and socio-cultural ecology. These include the former Regent of Tabanan, Bapak Nyoman Adi Wiryatama, who was the recipient of the national Kalpataru Award for his efforts in the environmental sector; and Bapak Ketut Nuryasa who has served on the Bali Tourism Board for over 15 years and helps to determine tourism policy. Ambassadors include Ade Rai, Bali’s most famous bodybuilder and promoter of healthy living; musician Piyu Alghani; and CNN hero of the year, Ibu Robin Lim. Ronny concludes, “By uniting segments of Bali‘s people, politicians, businesses and NGOs within one single project, supported by individuals and companies from all over the world, Bali can set an example of harmony, love, unity and peaceful togetherness.” The beauty and magic of Bali is the reason why visitors come here and why foreigners choose to live here; it is also the basis for the existence of many companies and organisations within the tourism and service sector. The Garden of Life Foundation is seeking the support of individuals and corporate companies that benefit from the beauty of Bali and care enough to take action to protect it. And while most charitable causes need continuing help with regular donations, the Garden of Life asks only for a one-time donation. More information about the project and details on how to donate can be
found by visiting the website below.

Eclipse Of The Sun

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Total solar eclipses aren’t so rare, but they seldom happen close to home, so when the Moon and the Sun aligned over Indonesia on the 9th of March, it was the easiest travel decision we’ve ever made.

The path of totality passed right through the middle of Indonesia starting in South Sumatra, cruising over southern Borneo, Central Sulawesi and then directly over the Moluccas and out into the Pacific Ocean all the way up towards Hawaii, leaving our home in Bali with only a partial glimpse. We looked for the nearest place to experience its full, darkened glory and there was but one choice within easy reach – Borneo’s city of Balikpapan in East Kalimantan. It’s not the first choice of holiday destinations, I must admit, but it turned out to be better than we could ever have dreamed of, with great food and amazing wildlife and of course, that celestial first prize – a total eclipse of the sun.

Balikpapan is a nice little port city of half a million people that makes its living on oil and gas, and the large river mouth is filled with tankers, barges, tugboats and small boats of every description, giving it a fast moving energy. There’s a sizeable expat community and plenty of prosperity, with lots of good restaurants, decent hotels and an over the top, yet beautifully designed airport. Arriving in town on the day before the eclipse, we checked in to our ocean front hotel room on the 16th floor of the Aston to see that our pre-trip phone calls had not been in vain, and we had indeed been given the room with the balcony that we had asked for – one facing directly east along the coastline and offering the perfect viewing spot.

We woke the next morning to a fiery sunrise with just a small  smattering of cloud, so we held high hopes for what was to unfold. The eclipse was set to start at 7.33am and last for about two hours, with totality hitting at 8.33am, so we splurged at the hotel’s special Eclipse Breakfast, complete with jazz band, huge buffet and masses of other stargazers, and then we retreated to our room just in time to watch the main event unfold.

We sat in our deckchairs under the blue sky in our pitch-dark eclipse glasses, drinking wine (special occasion, ahem), and watching the moon slowly gobble up the sun until it was no more than a sliver. It was at this point that the most eerie thing happened – day turned to night and the sun became an empty black hole in the sky. The stars came back out, the temperature dropped and everything turned a deep shade of grey with a golden hue circling the horizon. A great cheer rang out and the banging of drums erupted from the hordes on the water’s edge below, cancelling out the pops of our very own celebratory champagne corks. Atheist or believer, this was the glory we had all been waiting for.

Totality lasted just 75 seconds and before we knew it there was a huge rising flash from top left: the magical Diamond Ring Effect, where the sunbeams escape the shadow to create a blinding sci-fi light from the darkened disc of the moon. This is the stuff of legend, the perfect eclipse, and we’d just seen it for the first and maybe last time of our lives. As the darkness returned to light, we knew we’d just experienced something very special.

It was still only 9.30 in the morning, and with a whole day to fill we set off with a driver in search of what else Balikpapan has to offer the tourist. We found it in the form of bears and big-nosed monkeys. Just 25km northwest of the city is the Sun Bear Education and Conservation Centre, a locally funded NGO which has secured a 1.3 hectare block of land in which reside seven rescued sun bears – Southeast Asia’s only bear and the world’s smallest. People are not allowed inside the enclosure but instead can walk around it on an elevated walkway with the hope of catching a glimpse of the bears.

This is not a zoo, but a wonderful project to provide the bears with a good quality of life after having spent much of their lives in captivity as pets. Being solitary animals, 1.3 hectares is by no means a big enough area and conflicts over territory do arise, and we did hear some angry bickering going on, but on the whole they do get along. There are several sunning spots built close to the fence where visitors can often see the bears, like we did with Benny, who has been with the park for seven years since he was relieved of his human owners, who had pulled out his claws and canines in an attempt to turn him into a cuddly teddy bear for their family. The conservation centre is a great facility with a large visitors’ area featuring well designed and informative displays on all of the world’s eight species of bears, their lifestyles, populations, and inevitably, how endangered they are in this anthropocentric world. There are also a lot of friendly cats, which are open to adoption.

Later in the afternoon it was off across town to the river and the Margomulyo Mangrove Forest to rent a boat and try to catch a glimpse of Borneo’s endemic proboscis monkeys. Male proboscis monkeys use their fleshy, pendulous noses to attract mates and scientists think these outsize organs create an echo chamber that amplifies the monkey’s call, impressing females and intimidating rival males. They are also the primate world’s most prolific swimmers, frequently leaping from tree limbs and hitting the water with a comical belly flop. They’ve evolved webbed feet and hands to help them outpace the crocodiles that are some of their main predators.

They usually come down to the river to feed on leaves and shoots as dusk approaches, and our timing couldn‘t have been more perfect. We didn’t have to wait long before a large troupe came down to the water’s edge and sat in the trees along side our floating, ringside seat and put on a dinnertime show just for us. Our guide told us that one of their local names is ‘monyet Balanda’, which is Indonesian for ‘Dutch monkey’, the connection being made from not just their red-whiskered faces, but more importantly, for the huge size of their ‘European’ noses; something we all saw the funny side of.

When the sky went dark for the second time that day, we knew our trip was nearly at an end, and as we sat by the sea at Ocean’s Restaurant that night eating crab, prawns and fish, washing it down with a fair bit of cold Bintang beer and loving life, we talked about our new-found respect for bears, monkeys, Balikpapan and the Universe in general. And although the eclipse had stolen the show that day and made the visit worthwhile, it just goes to show that no matter where you go in the world, there’s always something special to seek out and enjoy.

The Throw Away Society

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ONCE UPON A TIME, PLASTICS WERE THE SAVIOUR OF HUMANITY’S STORAGE PROBLEMS, WHICH ENABLED OUR CONSUMER NATURE TO KICK INTO TOP GEAR WITH CHEAP AND DURABLE MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CHEAP-AND-EASY-EVERYTHING TO REPLACE THE CUMBERSOMENESS OF METAL, GLASS AND CARDBOARD. IT SEEMED TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, AND FOR A WHILE IT WAS, BUT NOW THOSE PLASTIC CHICKENS HAVE COME HOME TO ROOST AND WE ARE DROWNING IN A SEA OF DISCARDED CONSUMERISM, SOMETHING OUR OCEANS ARE TAKING LITERALLY.

 

Discarded plastics litter the Earth, and a frightening amount ends up in our oceans. A new report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation of the World Economic Forum paints a dire picture, projecting that there will be one ton of plastic in the ocean for every three tons of fish by 2025, and more plastic by weight than fish by 2050. Last year, researchers estimated there were 5 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean, many of which are small enough to be ingested by ocean life and work their way through the food chain, ultimately arriving on your plate. Unsurprisingly, toxicologists say this is problematic and potentially harmful to human health. Research has shown that plastic acts like a sponge for other chemical contaminants in the water, and fish that ingest them are more likely to have liver problems and tumours.

If you thought the Great Pacific Garbage Patch—a giant vortex of manmade debris that accumulates and swirls in the middle of the ocean— was frightening, the new report is far more troubling. Currently, at least eight tons of plastic leaks into the ocean every minute, which the report says is equivalent to dumping a garbage truck full of plastic straight into the sea. That will increase to two trucks per minute by 2030, and four per minute by 2050. Annual global plastic production, currently at 311 million tons, is set to explode worldwide, doubling in next 20 years and arriving at 1.12 billion tons by mid-century. And though recycling can help prevent plastic ending up in the ocean, disposable plastic products are still a problem, regardless of whether or not they are broken down and reused.

“Plastics are the workhorse material of the modern economy, with unbeaten properties,” said Dr. Martin R.  Stuchtey of the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment, which helped produce the report. “However, they are also the ultimate single-use material. Growing volumes of end-of-use plastics are generating costs and destroying value to the industry.

Currently, 6 per cent of the world’s oil use is devoted to producing plastics—the same amount used by the global aviation sector. That is expected to increase to 20 per cent by 2050. Producing plastic today uses 1 percent of the world’s carbon budget, the amount of energy that can be expended annually in order to keep the world from warming by less than 2 degrees Celsius. Global consensus is that remaining under this level is necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change. Plastic will account for 15 percent of the carbon budget by 2050.

On the bright side, plastic can be recycled for its components, but just 5 per cent of plastics are effectively recycled. Forty per cent go to the landfill, and a third into nature. And the economic case for recycling plastic is getting more tenuous, as it’s cheaper to make plastic from freshly pumped oil than it is to recycle plastic, given the current low price of crude. The report suggests that to turn the tide against a plastic-filled ocean and global disaster scenario would require a major overhaul of our usage. The biggest step would be to change the economics and processes of recycling, improving the collection of plastics by creating incentives to do so and then more efficiently recycling them. New materials should be developed to take the place of plastics, and plastic items need to be better designed to encourage reuse.

But food security may depend on solving these challenges. Not only does plastic threaten seafood as a food source for humans and other predators, the oil used to produce plastic is heating the planet and leading to more difficult farming conditions globally. Breaking our plastic addiction could be important to prevent or slow other tangential threats related to climate change. It won’t be easy—the report itself calls some of the necessary steps “moonshots.” But if we want to be able to consume plastic-free fish, we’ll need some of that much-touted “human ingenuity” to bail us out.