Toward Green Tourism : Looking to Southern Area of Badung, Bali

Aerial view picture of Southern Bali, Indonesia

(klik gambar untuk memperbesar / click picture to enlarge)

Toward Green Tourism:

Looking to Southern Area of Badung, Bali

Southern area of Badung Region is a tourism center in Bali, even commonly in Indonesia. With amazing beauty of natural panorama, especially it’s beaches, rice fields and the hills, also the magnificent cultural heritage of Balinese, this area is the magnet to the tourists both from all over Indonesia and also from all around the world.

Southern area of Badung region includes three districts: North, Central and South Kuta. Enclaves of tourist’s objects and activities spread and interconnected in this area. Like beaches area over Seminyak. Legian, Kuta, Tuban, Jimbaran, Nusa Dua, Benoa, and Uluwatu.

But, in the same time, as tourism center, this area has a problem with flood increasingly in last five years. On last January and February 2008, Kuta area have some sudden floods caused by water from some hard rainfalls which couldn’t served enough by existing drainage system. The flood came suddenly because there were rare areas of water catchments especially from rainfall, changed by a lot of buildings. So, exactly, there was a lot of garbage spread on the streets and around the beaches. This situation could bring a bad impression to some tourists whom rounded by flood location in that day, and commonly to the tourism promotion.

In the satellite photo picture of south Badung area (by maplandia.com), we can see that this area is almost full with buildings. Mostly, in the “neck” area between Kuta in the north, to Legian in the south. In this “neck” area, rose a lot of tourism facilities, including hotels and international airport of Ngurah Rai.

The west coast of the ”neck” area is exactly in the front of the ocean with its high waves and coast abrasions. The east coast of the “neck” spread the mangrove forests to protect the land from abrasion. But, in the same time, this area also has problems in land use. So, some buildings have rose in this natural preservation area.

In the last five years, people who consider the importance of natural conservation, low energy consumption as way of life and harm affects of global warming. So, begin on this year, it is very correct if we can reform our way of thinking and focus on green tourism. Green tourism is some attitudes, behaviors and actions, which can rearrange the tourism activities not as short as hedonism and consumerism activities. But tourism activities much support to natural conservation, enhance lower energy consumption, and prevent the global warming affect. Above all, to protect local culture and to honor local social life. We hope these will prevent and reduce bad affect of tourism activities and managements, which are the dark side of tourism.

Seorang pecundang tak tahu apa yang akan dilakukannya bila kalah, tetapi sesumbar apa yang akan dilakukannya bila menang. Sedangkan, pemenang tidak berbicara apa yang akan dilakukannya bila ia menang, tetapi tahu apa yang akan dilakukannya bila kalah. (Eric Berne)