Indonesia’s maritime ministry has designated Bali’s Benoa Bay a conservation zone for religious and cultural activities, and traditional and sustainable fisheries. The decision effectively kills a $2 billion plan to reclaim land in the mangrove-rich bay for a tourism development featuring hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues and a convention center. While opponents of the development project have welcomed the decree, they say it’s only the first step toward ensuring that the bay receives full and permanent legal protection against such development plans. JAKARTA — Bali’s mangrove-rich Benoa Bay is now legally off-limits for any reclamation or development activities, following the government’s designation of the area as a maritime conservation zone. Spanning some 1,400 hectares (3,460 acres) in southern Bali, the bay was in 2014 rezoned from a conservation area to a public zone under a decree by then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a move seen at the time as clearing a path for future reclamation and development. Indonesians in Bali and other cities have since opposed every proposed development project in the bay, especially an ambitious plan by PT Tirta Wahana Bali Internasional (TWBI), a property development unit of Indonesian tycoon Tomy Winata’s Artha Graha conglomerate. The developer proposed building artificial […]
Bali mangrove bay is now a conservation zone, nixing reclamation plan
Latest Articles
Coffee waste can supercharge the growth of new forests
What happens when you dump 30 trucks full of coffee waste on land set aside for reforestation? Well, the forest recovers a heck...
Students design skateboard wheels made from chewing gum
Chewing gum: it’s a type of plastic pollution that we’re just not talking about enough. Most modern chewing gums are made from synthetic...
Kiribati Floating Houses address rising waters and land limitations
Architectural design takes all forms, with a focus from the ground up. But UOOU, an Amsterdam- and London-based design practice, came up with...
Once Imperiled, America’s Bald Eagle Populations Are Soaring
U.S. bald eagle populations have more than quadrupled in the lower 48 states since 2009, according to a new survey from the U.S....
Indigenous peoples by far the best guardians of forests – UN report
The embattled indigenous peoples of Latin America are by far the best guardians of the regions’ forests, according to a UN report, with...
Has Eugene, Oregon, found a ‘superpower’ for climate action?
Organizer Dylan Plummer addresses the crowd during a March protest outside the offices of Northwest Natural, the Eugene, Oregon, gas utility. Activists are...
