The Pondok Pekak Library and Learning Center

On my final day in Ubud, I spend a leisurely day visiting the Pondok Pekak Library and Learning Center. Named after a priest/healer from the area, Pondok Pekak roughly means “Gradfather’s little resting house in the rice fields.” Located near the large (and only) football field in town, the center offers a relaxing place to spend an afternoon. The center was started in 1995 primarily as an expat library, but has expanded their focus into encouraging local kids in the “love of reading” mentality. This led to the development in 2001 of a children’s library with books in Indonesian and English. As their brochure attests, and I can well believe, they have a collection of over 10,000 books in a wide range of topics including Indonesian, Balinese, and SEA studies.

An on-sight learning center offers traditional music and dance classes, woodcarving lessons, Indonesian language courses, etc. Plus there is a restaurant, tours can be arranged, and water bottles refilled for a minimal charge. The library has become self-sustaining because of these services and programs offered to tourists.

It’s at this center that I finally find a copy (actually 2 copies) of the Natural Guide to Bali – a guidebook that I had read about online, but could never seem to find. This guidebook is unique as it rates places based on how traveler-friendly, nature-friendly, and community friendly they are. Basically, it’s trying to appeal to more conscious travelling, and letting people go beyond the price when choosing a guesthouse, restaurant, or a sightseeing activity.

Selecting a few books, I find a cozy place to read on the 2^nd floor of the building.

In the evening I decide to try the Bali Buddha cafe listed in the Natural Guide to Bali book. In the book it gave the restaurant/organic health food store extra points for a project they run called ABC solutions, a waste management program they organize with local households and small tourist operations to collect recyclable waste, sort it, then transport it to the Denpasar recycling facility. They charge roughly $5 US a month for the service, so provides a good service to the community as well as providing extra income for their business which is visited mostly by tourists and expats.

The restaurant is located above the organic food store, so is rather small in size – about 10 tables and another room that acts as a sitting/waiting room full of couches. When I arrived the restaurant was full, but by the time my food arrived I had found a vacated table next to an interesting faux-wall made up of linked together wind chimes. I have to agree with the guidebook, the food is very good and healthy, while going that extra step to provide a valuable community service within the area.

Threads of Life

The town of Ubud seems like a contradiction to the sun and sand tourism of the Southern Bali. Here is the cultural hub of Bali, where traditions and art on display, though the town seems as equally developed as the popular tourist areas farther South. The central part of Ubud is full of homestays, restaurants - many offering organic fair, and boutiques. These chic little boutiques sell upscale versions of local arts and crafts. Ubud used to be a much smaller village, but its popularity as a tourism destination caused the village to grow and absorb some of the neighboring villages. To support this expansion many rice fields were developed into hotels and home stays, though Ubud is still a very popular place to take walks, or bike rides, around the scenic surrounding area. I’m also noticing it is a popular place for expats, and sign postings for apartments to rent are common on all the billboards.

One slight hassle I am noticing, every 3^rd person appears to be a pseudo-taxi driver. In Ubud, there aren’t many official taxi cars, but these pseudo-taxi drivers offer rides in private vehicles and on the back of motorcycles. It’s a regular soundtrack when one tries to walk anywhere, “taxi?”, “you need taxi?”, “taxi, miss?”

On one of my ventures around town I discover the “Threads of Life” Indonesian Textile Arts Center off a quiet street in the far North part of town. Proudly displayed on the glass window near the entrance is a letter and certificate from Islands magazine nominating the center as part of their December 2007 issue "Blue-List of 100 Responsible Tourism Attractions." There is also a seal of approval from the International Fare Trade Association displayed on the sliding glass door into the cool air-conditioned building.

The Threads of Life center works with weaving associations on 9 different islands, and showcases products at the center in Bali. I look around the store at the different textiles, each includes a name tag that describes the item, its traditional use, and who it was tied by, dyed by, and woven by. As the store clerk lady proudly points out, not only are all the textiles produced laboriously by hand, but the dyes used are sustainably and naturally produced.

As she tells me, Threads of Life works to help each weaving center based on their individual needs. At some associations they help train weavers in order management, quality control, and bookkeeping. At others, the focus is on reaching a broader domestic and international market. Since 2005 the group has been organizing a yearly conference, the Nusantara Weaver’s Festival, to join these women from the different programs in one place where they can discuss their craft with other weavers. At the center a DVD of the conference plays continuously on the small TV in one corner of the room.

As a tourism student, I’ve found it particularly interesting how they’ve combined tourism in with the weaving program and shop. At the center they offer classes and workshops that teach about textiles, and how to make them. At a full day Batik workshop they offer, participants pick their own leaves for coloring, and watch the preparation of the indigo vat and paste. They then learn to hand-draw designs on cloth, and dye and re-dye their cloth. There is an even longer program that involves an 8 to 14 day trip around Bali that visit weaving programs and delves into the socio-cultural links.

The Threads of Life organization seems to be doing very positive work to impact the environment, society, and economy of those involved in the weaving programs. In particular, the program encourages sustainable dye plant use and handspun thread, which promotes organic farming of cotton and indigo and avoids chemical dyes. The program also encourages pride in culture through the act of making the traditional fabrics, which are then promoted as an art form – and sold at similar prices, thus generating revenue that goes back to the weavers and their families.

If you’d like to learn more about the organization, here is their contact information:

Threads of Life
Jalan Kajeng 24, Ubud
www.threadsoflife.com
tac@threadsoflife.com

Mangrove Information Center

When I visit the PPLH Bali center, the coordinator mentions that they sometimes take kids to the Mangrove Information Center on the South side of town. Curious, I decide to stop here next.

A mangrove doesn’t refer to a specific type of tree, but instead to any group of trees that grow between the high tide and low tide water lines. I find this out, and more, in the display cases arranged around the Mangrove Information Center. The center, which works to teach the public about mangroves, is another project supported by the Japanese organization JICA. This is the same organization that funds programs with the Indonesian National Park System, such as Gunung Halimun and Ujung Kulon NPs.

These coastal areas around Bali became particularly at risk as tourism started booming in the 1970s. As part of the coastal eco-system they prevent land erosion, and provide a safe harbor for fish to grow, they also provide ideal places for hotels and restaurants where one can sip mojitos and stare out at the sea. In 1992 this particular mangrove forest was designated as “Tahura” – grand forest park, and in 1993-1999 JICA and the Indonesian Department of Forestry started The Development of Sustainable Mangrove Management Project. This project resulted in data collection about the mangrove forest and the birds, crabs, and other wildlife that live inside. A nursery was also established to provide seedlings for the rehabilitation.

(The nursery)

While this project did result in rehabilitation of portions of the Mangrove forest, the deforestation going on was to a greater extent. That’s why from 2001-2006 JICA and the Forestry department decided to engage in a second project, The Mangrove Information Centre Project. This project focused on awareness through environmental education as well as an ecotourism aspect. The third and newest project, The Sub-Sectoral Programme on Mangrove, is currently underway from 2007-2010 and acts as a follow up to the other two programs by focusing on maintenance and resource monitoring. The lobby of the MIC clearly explains the work of all these projects, as well as a mini diorama of the Mangrove forest with original forest in dark green and rehabilitated area in light green. I continued my stroll through the center which includes several exhibit rooms talking about the function of Mangroves in the ecosystem and has large aquariums that mimic the mangrove habitat with creatures crawling around inside.

(Crab wildlife in the Mangrove Forest)

At the center I meet Yuni, Assistant Expert of JICA in Museum Management. She tells me about the different environmental education programs and the incorporation of ecotourism into the forestry management strategies. The MIC and nearby boardwalk were both created in 2003 and currently receive about 6,000 domestic guests a year, mostly students and teachers. Special projects are also held at the center, such as summer camps and a weeklong Mangrove Arts festival. At the festival local sculptures, painters, and cooks are invited to the Mangrove forest to find inspiration in the year’s theme (last year’s was “Hidden Beauty”). Then people from around the community come to see the art exhibits, and view/sample products from the cooking displays that use products from the forest. On the wall near to where we are talking, I can see the finalist from a kids drawing contest also held.

While the number of international visitors is much smaller, closer to 500 a year, many people come who have a special interest in the forest, like bird watching. Two tall hides have been built to cater to bird watchers. A 3km long trail winds through the mangrove forest, very solitary and silent except for the noises of nature one would expect. Acting as a barrier between the land and the sea, the Mangrove forest does suffer problems from rubbish being trapped among the roots. I had a very peaceful walk along the boardwalk, but as the sky began to darken I decided to come back early.

The Mangrove Information Center and hiking trail is located at:

Jl. By Pass Ngurah Rai km.21
Suwung Kauh Denpasar, Bali
62-361-726969
micjica@indosat.net.id

PPLH Bali

Tourism in Bali – one could write a book on that subject. Actually, there are 395 currently on Amazon when you type in “Bali Tourism.” This array of books ranges from tourism guides, to more academic materials discussing the impacts of having the island’s economy interlaced with tourism, as well as the crushing effects of the Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005.

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 5^th 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.