Killing the goose that laid the golden egg: Pollution & Tourism
The uncoming UN Framework Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bali will focus on how carbon emissions trap heat and affect the Earth’s climate. Bali was chosen for a number of reasons and is one of the world’s premier tourist destinations. A BBC article asks if the tourist industry itself is helping to destroy its own future.
The article entitled ‘How to make tourism greener’ points out that jet airliners pump out a tremendous amount of carbon and the industry as a whole, which is really all about customer service, often places consumer satisfaction above all else (apart from making a profit).
How does this relate to Bali? The current villa boom, coupled with recovering economy are good for the island right now, but how much is too much? When do we stop trying to make Bali into south Florida or some twisted version of the Costa Brava. How many foreign arrivals do we need each day to exist happily and will Kuta / Denpasar someday be one long set of villas all the way to Ubud? For some developers its never enough and the famous Balinese culture will be a modern day dodo after some people have finished with it.
Tourism can be wonderful for all involved, but there has to be a limit in terms of personal space, personal consumption, personal waste and personal freedom to do what we like.
By Nick | Permalink |
3 comments | November 15th, 2007 | Trackback
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Comments
For my money Bali was much more pleasant say 10 years ago. The people were friendlier then, less pollution and trash about, far less traffic. You could say the accommodation is better noiw but all these hotels are not environmentally aware. More and better restaurants. Yes but my experience is if you eat out all the time by the end of your holiday you will be sick in the guts. Food preparation is not to the standards required. Low salaries and lack of education mean people cut corners. The energy we all use contributes to global warming and yes the tourism business is not a green business. Jets are heavy polluters. Compound that with a massively increasing population in Indonesia and you have recipe for disaster without serious longterm planning. People will choose islands that do the right thing for their environment. Bali does not unfortunately. Just look at the open sewer that flows out from the end of Jalan Double 6 making eating your breakfast at say Tekor a pungent experience. Locals don’t seem to care at all. Wake up Bali..
David, I like to write about the real issues such as the environment and culture. Its my job to write about real estate.
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Nick - You bring up the issue of tourism vs the environment - however world travel is trending up and will continue to do, however the big issue GW via transport is at the mercy of improvements by the transport industry.
Peer pressure needs to be heavy on developers to do the right thing for both the natural and the cultural environment. No excuse for exloitation.
But I have to ask, how can promote anything goes realestate co. and website one day and cry fowl the next?
As for pollution on the ground - that is a local responsibility and they clearly don’t give a F.