In addition to its Eco-Learning Center programs, ROLE partners up with local stakeholders and organizations to tackle restoration and waste management issues through off-campus environmental assistance projects. ROLE is currently working on four such projects.
Eco Surf Rescue: Uluwatu
ROLE Foundation, GUS Foundation, Eco Bali and the surf industry are working with local residents and business owners to clean up the Uluwatu Surf Heritage Area. After removing a dump truck of waste, ROLE Foundation estimates that up to 20-30 tons of solid waste has been dumped into the Uluwatu ravine and is slowly washing into the cave and surf break. Waste pouring into the cave and out into the line up includes excrement, garbage and cooking oil. With 5,000 to 10,000 visitors every month and not enough working bathrooms to meet demand, some visitors are going to the toilet in the bushes and in the cave. Adding to the problem, approximately 30 warungs are pouring out their used cooking oil behind their shops, with the oil eventually ending up in the ocean.
Actions Taken:
So far partners have met and studied the site and a professional topographical survey of the area has been competed. GUS Foundation and experts from Complete Construction Engineering are coming up with a liquid waste system that is linked to a waste garden. Construction of two concrete solid waste sorting bins is in progress and forty plastic rubbish bins have been received and are going to be distributed (one to each warung).The Eco Surf Rescue Team has planned education days about solid waste disposal and has set up a waste collection system where Eco Bali picks up waste and recyclables from the concrete bins three times a week.
Next Steps:
The existing, but currently dysfunctional toilet facilities will be linked to a new sewage system. New toilets will also be engineered and constructed to meet demand. A management team of local stakeholders will be created so ROLE and GUS Foundations will be able to focus their efforts on assisting other coastal communities in need of proper waste infrastructure.
Please go to http://ecosurfrescue.moonfruit.com/ for the latest news on the project.
Sawangan Solid Waste Collection Pilot Project
The ROLE Foundation is partnering with Rotary Club Nusa Dua to properly manage the waste of Sawangan. Currently, Sawangan residents and business owners are throwing their waste outside near the road or next to their homes. When large piles of waster are created they are often burned by residents. This is a health and economic as well as environmental hazard. ROLE and Rotary Club Nusa Dua are working to create and maintain a clean and sustainable environment for the landowners, residents and visitors of Sawangan by developing a waste collection system to stop the local dumping and burning of waste.
ROLE and Rotary Club Nusa Dua plan on strategically placing 5 plastic waste bins in the Sawangan region which passersby can put their trash in rather than on the ground. A garbage truck will then pick up waste from these containers, as well as from local homes and businesses every three days. The rubbish will then be taken to the Eco Learning Center where it will be further sorted into recyclables and non-recyclables. The non-recyclable waste will be delivered to Benoa landfill. ROLE and Rotary Club Nusa Dua will monitor, review and improve this waste management system while educating landowners and Banjar. ROLE and Rotary Club Nusa Dua have already met with the local Banjar and have gotten approval for the project. After 18 to 24 months, ROLE plans to hand project management of to Sawangan Banjar and landowners, and will then work on expanding the project to surrounding communities.
Canggu River/ Echo Beach Clean Up Project
The first phase of the Canggu River/ Echo Beach Clean Up Project has been completed. Volunteers cleaned up waste along the 4 main tributaries that lead into the lagoon near the beach. Volunteers saw many man-made piles of garbage along the banks of the tributaries, some of which had been burnt. A grid system was created and measured out so that trash can now be systematically cleaned up. Over a 12 day period, ROLE Foundation, with the help of Oakley, Rotary Canggu, Gus Foundation and members of multiple Indonesian families, managed to clean up approximately 15 cubic meters of waste, a majority of it being plastics.
Water samples were taken at four different stream locations. These samples were given to the Udayana University for testing. Results showed high levels of fecal coliform bacteria, phenol, and oil and grease. From the high phenol levels we can infer that cooking oil and other greasy solutions are being released in or nearby the river. The BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) test results indicate that the water in both Canggu River and Canggu Sea is about 1/5 domestic sewage.
ROLE is currently in the process of finding the proper netting or blockage device to prevent solid waste from flowing further downstream in Canggu River. ROLE is assisting Rotary Canggu in making Canggu residents aware of the economic, environmental, and health dangers of releasing waste in or near the river. Ideally, ROLE would like to implement community based initiatives that are self managed to improve the health of the river, and in turn the ocean. A proper sewage system needs to be created to curb the high levels of coliform bacteria in the river. More inspection, interviewing and water testing will be done to pinpoint other key sources of river pollution.
Nusa Dua Marine Protected Area
ROLE Foundation is partnering with Reef Check Indonesia to make a Marine Protected Area (MPA) near Geger Beach, Nusa Dua. At present, the southern coast of Bali lacks any form of recognized MPA. With the majority of the island’s tourist infrastructure located in the south, the area’s coral reefs are under extreme pressure. The creation of a small community based MPA would provide a refuge for marine species, helping to protect the biodiversity of the area. ROLE Foundation believes additional benefits from the creation of the MPA may include improved fisheries, increased tourism revenues, recreation, scientific research and education, as well as species and ecosystem protection.
The Nusa Dua MPA will allow different species the chance to freely reproduce and help to increase biotic and genetic diversity. Through the restriction of fish harvest, species will be given an opportunity to grow larger and reproduce more easily, resulting in a faster turn over of fish from inside the sanctuary to outside (spill-over effect) increasing yields for fishermen. ROLE is currently working with Reef Check to raise local support and awareness. Having already established MPAs in North and East Bali, Reef Check has experience ROLE has been looking for to make the Nusa Dua Marine Protected Area a reality.
