Implementation of Green Tourism and Green Culture Based on Tri Hita Karana Philosophy in Promoting Bali Clean and Green Program

Implementation of Green Tourism and Green Culture Based on Tri Hita Karana Philosophy in Promoting Bali Clean and Green Program

Dr Ketut Gede Dharma Putra
Center for Environmental Studies
Faculty of Science Udayana University
E-mail : kgdharmap@mipa.unud.ac.id


Introduction

The province of Bali has a terrestrial area of about 5,636.66 km2 and a beach length of approximately 430 km. The population increased from about 1.5 million people in 1950 to about 3,616,881 people in 2010. Bali’s economy was basically dependent on the development of the agricultural sector, with the home (small-scale) and tourism industries acting as key factors in the Gross Regional Domestic Product(GDRP). The tourism and trade industry contribute to about 31.3% of the GDRP, while agriculture and related consultancy contributes to 19.13% and 14.75%, respectively. Other sectors contribute to less than 10%.
Bali hosts only a limited number of natural resources on the island, however, the uniqueness and beauty of the culture and the environment has the potential to make Bali famous as a world class tourism destination. The coastal and marine area has a huge potential to support the economy of Bali.
Threats of the Bali’s nature have increased each year, due to the growing amount of unplanned development taking place along the region, which is environmental pollution have the primary problem facing the island. Inadequate public consultation and low public awareness, limited employment alternatives, lack of an effective management system and conflict of interest among stakeholders are key factors that promote unplanned development. All of these problems combine together to contribute to the destruction of the environment through pollution and habitat loss, and degradation of natural areas of beauty.
The need for implementation of green tourism concept was determined as essential. To maintain the island still clean and green, then The Bali Clean and Green Program declare by the Government of Bali at the year 2009. This program will be very synergic with the community development activities. A primary focus will be to enhance awareness and provide opportunities for participation of communities in the initiative to develop green economy, green culture and green energy..

Impact of Tourism for the Environment
There are a broad range of negative physical and cultural environmental impacts resulting from tourism development in Bali starting from the beginning of tourist region policy during the 1980’s, which can be categorized into three major types of concern such as resources usage, behavioral considerations and pollution. The issue of resource usage such as tourism competes with other forms of development and human activities for natural resources, especially land and water. The use of natural resources subsequently leads to the transformation of ecological habitats and loss of flora and fauna.

The issue of human behavior towards the destination environment give example by local people encouraged by the revenues to be gained from tourism and tourist may display ignorance and disregard for the environment and indulge in inappropriate behavior. This can lead to a range of negative consequences for the physical and cultural environment.
A range of different types of pollution can result from tourism such as water, noise, air, and aesthetic pollution. These can impact on different spatial scales from local to global. In destinations the effects of pollution are often associated with the level of tourism development and the degree of planning of implementation and environmental management controls.

Promoting the Environment as an Attraction
Bali nature beauty is very famous for people who visit as a tourist. The approach in changing perceptions of landscapes, combine with the changing social and economic condition present opportunities for the industry to begin promote image of the beauty of Bali nature to the public to encourage them to visit Bali.
Bali become very famous as the place where beauty is not near extinction. Where nature and man have found perfect harmony, as the philosophy of Balinese called Tri Hita Karana. Where peace is unbroken. In Bali people is freely to swim everywhere with a small cloth in the body without any watching from the people.
The main characteristic for promoting Bali environment as a green tourism is the landscape must be beautiful with the relaxed atmosphere. The sun must shine all the time and the climate should be very healthy. The cuisine must very delicious and healthy with most of the place as an excursion. All off the good thing, as a priority, the surrounding land should be clean and green.

The Community Development
. The public participation and stakeholder partnership is one of the key issue for the development of green tourism and green culture in the promoting Bali Clean and Green Program. The community development program is needed to empower individuals and groups of people by providing these groups with the skills they need to affect change in their own communities. The approach for promoting the benefit of green habit is to improve the quality of health in Bali is very successful with the use of local leader and academia. The activity is aimed at improving local community development and creating a holistic approach to ensure the better perception among the community. Some objectives to be reached include:
1. To change from the old paradigm of a top-down policy to a bottom-up approach that utilizes local knowledge and skills.
2. To establish partnerships and synergy among all stakeholders in order to enhance communication and understanding of common objectives and thus increase the effectiveness and efficiency of resource development.
3. To achieve a synergistic partnership through reliable communication of information and a strong network that brings together diverse experience and knowledge of various stakeholders.

Basically, the strategy to increase the awareness of the community in connection of the Bali Clean and Green Program is use with very deep work with local leader and the communities. Through the strategy there are some activities was prepared such as focus group discussion, socializations, and field trip.

The Sustainable Development Concepts in Promoting Green Development in Bali
In terms of development, small islands such as Bali have special characteristics relating to their economies, natural resources, and coastal management. Small island economies are less diversified and more specialized than other economies, in that they are often based initially on natural resource-based activities, particularly in primary sectors such as agricultural and fisheries, and later on tertiary sectors such as tourism. Rapid population growth and urbanization, caused by the growth of economy has increased the pressure on limited natural resource.
The concept of sustainable development has been expressed as an adaptive process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investment, and the orientation of technological development and institutional changes are made to meet the needs of present and future generations for a better life. The key point of sustainable development is to maintain ecological integrity and diversity with basic human needs, and reaching the conservation of the environment, appreciation of local genius, and increasing the self-determination of the local people. In Bali, sustainable development means the balancing of economy, environment and culture. It means that all the development in Bali should enhance the quality of Balinese life.


The Implementation of Tri Hita Karana (THK) in promoting Bali Clean and Green Program

Tri Hita Karana (THK) denotes an indigenous life concepts of Balinese community to attain secular bliss through harmonious relationship between human and God (parhyangan), human and fellows human (pawongan) as well human and its environment ( palemahan) into an integral oneness. THK concepts comprised of three major subsystems, such as the socio-demographic subsystem, the economic subsystem, and the natural resource subsystem. Together with the avaibility and development new infrastructure, new jobs, and increased power for the traditional village, the developments in Bali will reach their goal to enhance Balinese life.
Development in Bali is often poorly planned and very sporadic. As the size of the green belt and open spaces has declined over time, a holistic planning approach is needed to reduce the negative impacts on the environment for future generations. Local institutions, have power within the community that will be used to help promote the responsibility for assessment and mitigation. As an integral part of this empowerment, a reward and punishment system will work to reduce the destruction of nature and promote environmentally friendly development if it is followed by quality training and additional education in the village.
Promotion of the role of traditional villages in Bali will help provide the international community with an appreciation of the Balinese people and help them view Bali as a safe tourist destination.

Conclusion
The development of Green Tourism and Green Culture play an important role in the Bali Clean and Green Program. The involvement of the local leader, local scientist and other stakeholders is very supported through the implementation of Tri Hita Karana philosophy. This concept is derived from the peoples’ belief that there is harmony between God, the communities and the nature. The community development is one of successful story in the implementation of sustainable development concept with the Tri Hita Karana implementation in the tourism industry.

References
Burbridge, P.R., 1986. Problems and issues of coastal zone management. In Man, Land and Sea. The Agricultural Development Council. Bangkok.
Dharma Putra,K.G., 2003, Partnership and Public Participatory Approach for Environment Management in Bali, Indonesia, The East Asia Seas Congress, Putrajaya, Malaysia
Dharma Putra,K.G..2010, Pencemaran Lingkungan Ancam Pariwisata Bali.Denpasar: Penerbit PT Pustaka Manikgeni..
Holden,A., 2005. Environment and Tourism. Routledge. London.
GEF/UNDP/IMO Regional Programmed on Building PEMSEA,2004,Southeastern Coast of Bali Initial Risk Assessment, Bali National ICM Demonstration Site