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From Gilimanuk, Java, I took a ferry across the straight to reach the island of Bali. From there buses travel past the scenic Western side of Bali and into the more developed Southern part of the island. When I visited the PPLH Center in East Java, the staff mentioned there was another center located in Bali, so I decide to check it out on my visit to the island. The center is in Sanur, a small beach town on the Southeast coast of Bali.
While the PPLH Bali environmental education center was formerly based at Hotel Santai, the hotel turned into a dive school, so the center moved about 6 months ago. The PPLH Bali center is now located at a quiet building on Jl. Hang Tuah Street. When I turn up at the new center, I’m warmly welcomed by Imade Hariana. Imade works to run and coordinate the programs at PPLH Bali. He admits it’s a smaller operation than the one in East Java, so instead of bringing people to their center, the staff travels to them.
Currently, the center operates a “Green School” program where they visit 5th graders at 3 local schools once a week to introduce the environment and its problems to the kids. They also have other programs where they visit schools farther away for 2-3 day programs that teach about how to treat the environment and coastal areas. Partners of PPLH Bali include other local and international NGOs. They work with the foundation branch of the P.A.D.I. organization, which gives licenses to divers, in order to produce books on sea life to pass out. PPLH Bali also works with the Bali International Women’s Association, who sponsored a book on water monitoring using bio indicators. The book includes different animals to look for in order to determine the health of the water. Staff from PPLH goes with a “Green Team” of selected kids from local schools and try to identify the bio indicating animals in local water sources. This provides an interactive way for local children to learn about the health of the nearby water sources, with the goal being that these kids will then educate their friends.
Imade explains that environmental education currently isn’t a mandatory part of the school curriculum, so PPLH has also organized a group whose name loosely translates to, “Teachers Who Care about the Environment.” The group then discusses how to integrate environmental education into the class room as well as creative ways to keep kids interested. While I’m speaking with him, several young boys dressed in brown and white school uniforms stop by with a bag of empty bottles. In the Green School program, the PPLH staffers teach kids about proper waste disposal and the importance of recycling. They tell the kids how they can exchange plastic bottles and cans for cash. For those who can’t make it to the recycling center, PPLH pays them for bringing recycling to their office, and then during the afternoon the staff will drop it by the recycling center. Imade smiles as he mentions the kids are also welcome to use the onsite library and do their homework at the center, which often means helping with math problems.
While the work of PPLH Bali may not directly relate to tourism, the staff is trying to change local behaviors to the environment, which does interconnect with tourism. The growth of the tourism industry since the 1970s has created an incentive for developing land and has resulted in greater usage of natural resources. The PPLH center in Bali hopes that by educating kids about the importance and value of their environment, they will be keener to preserve and conserve it, thus producing a better place for people to visit and for them to live.
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