Protecting the Bedoegoel Mountains

Bali has a serious water problem due to the tourism industry. Rivers and reservoirs are drying off on the island! Most of the groundwater is channeled to luxury resorts and villas for tourists to enjoy. While tourism makes up 80% of Bali’s economy, it also translates into taking up 65% of Bali’s groundwater, leading to 260 of 400+ rivers in Bali running dry! It is clear that the island is struggling to cope with diminishing water resources; even its biggest body of fresh water, Lake Buyan, has dropped 3.5 meters with reservoirs being only 30% full!

Ari and Gove, our crowddroners from Indonesia, captured this map to show their work to support local communities in Bali. PT Wahana Oma Gangga and NagaVisions are proud to be supporting Social Forestry Co-operation between 8 North Bali Villages with drone images. Since noticing that the quality and quantity of their water sources have significantly reduced in recent years and given national attention to Social Forestry issues under the government of President Joko Widodo, a group of leaders in North Bali has formalized cooperation to manage their shared forest resources with the central goal of securing water supply into the distant future.

Check out the map in DroneDeploy

Individual villages will develop forest resources including eco-tourism destinations, sustainably harvested rattan, forest honey, medicinal plants, and clean drinking water under a coordinating body to ensure effective, regenerative management of a 5000+ hectare forest and maintain all traditional ecosystem services enjoyed in the long history of the area. Group members include representatives from upstream rural forests and downstream, urban areas including coastal areas. These diverse communities will share the advantages of all three contexts in tackling the challenges of the watershed as a whole. These are 200 photos of the forest area to be managed by the coordinating group.

All stakeholders are very excited about the possibilities of this innovative “summit to sea” approach in showcasing the power of local and indigenous management of forest resources for global impact! - Gove DePuy & Ari Saaski

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