Download help regreen one of bali`s poorest regions

HELP REGREEN ONE OF BALI’S POOREST REGIONS
Dear BaliSpirit Festival & Yoga Barn Friends,
We’d like to introduce you to Bali Regreen, one of the most exciting and long-term
sustainable environmental projects in the region, fighting not only the land
degradation in the island’s driest area but injecting training which will lead to long
term economic benefits for some of Bali’s poorest people.
The purpose of this email is to inform and inspire you … and offer you alternative
ways to help the project succeed, starting with an regreening expedition to east Bali
this weekend, Dec 13th and 14th.
WHY DO WE NEED TO REGREEN BALI?
Looking around at the lush green of Central Bali, it’s hard to imagine that huge tracts of the
island, especially in the east, are dry and have almost no vegetation. The communities that
live in these arid and damaged areas are the poorest in Bali.
Since 2011, BaliSpirit Festival and Yayasan Kryasta Guna have partnered with the
Environmental Bamboo Foundation (EBF) to plant 4,300 bamboo seedlings in Desa Songan,
East Bali. Located in the caldera of Batur volcano, this is one of 82 poorest villages in Bali,
with a huge 35% of its 8,000 people living below the poverty line. The people in this area
have two major obstacles to overcome: a harsh environment with land degradation and a
lack of economic opportunity.
At BaliSpirit, we believe that regreening is more than looking after and giving back to the
earth, we must also look after its people. So, BaliSpirit doesn’t just plant bamboo, our
extended team of staff and volunteers train village farmers to care for the soon-to-be bamboo
forest on their previously unproductive land. In the long term, planting bamboo helps to bring
water to arid land and rehabilitate it, while in the short term it contributes in developing a
small-scale micro-economy in these affected communities.
WHY BAMBOO?
Bamboo makes great water catchment area protection.
Because of the wide-spreading root system, uniquely shaped leaves, and dense litter on the
forest floor, bamboo greatly reduces rain run off, preventing massive soil erosion in the water
catchment area and retaining up to twice as much water within that soil. Songan lies in the
water catchment area that flows into Batur Lake, the second largest water reservoir for the
entire island of Bali. Water from here feeds huge tracts of Bali’s famed rice fields, so this
project will have a big impact.
Bamboo is great for fast regreening of dry and unproductive areas.
Bamboo is the fastest growing canopy for the regreening of degraded lands. Bamboo has
been measured shooting skyward at two inches (5 centimeters) an hour. Some species grow
5 feet
(one and a half meters) a day!
Bamboo is a high yield crop for farmers to grow.
Bamboo is a high-yield renewable resource. Bamboo can be harvested in 3-5 years (versus
10-20 years for most softwoods). Some of the largest timber bamboo can grow over 30 m (98
ft) tall, and be as large as 15–20 cm (5.9–7.9 in) in diameter. One clump can produce 200
poles in the three to five years. Bamboo generates a crop every year for farmers to sell,
either as poles or in the form of handicrafts used by the Balinese community, providing even
more job opportunities in Batur as old traditions and skills are revived and sustained.
Balinese use a lot of bamboo.
Bamboo is the traditional forest of Bali. Bamboo is an integral part of every Balinese person’s
life. From birth to death, each religious rite involves bamboo in some form. It is used islandwide for scaffolding, baskets, offerings, food preparation, livestock shelter, homes, furniture,
boats, in vegetable gardens as stakes, and handicrafts for the tourist market. If farmers have
this crop on their land, they don’t need to spend precious cash to buy bamboo.
After the planting…
It’s more than just planting bamboo seedlings. Bamboo needs basic maintenance and the
farmers need training to know how to do this the right way. Right now, the focus is on
ensuring the bamboo seedlings make it to the crucial 3 year ‘safety zone’ and the first year of
harvest. Bamboo is low maintenance, but, like any crop, it needs fertilizer, water and human
attention to thrive.
The project will use the next three years to focus on farmer bamboo care and harvest
education, developing an irrigation system, and post harvest processing to add value to the
bamboo crops.
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
Bali Spirit estimates that it will take another 3 years of support (total 5 years) to make this
project self-sustaining. By 2018, we hope to leave behind a 10,000 strong bamboo forest producing poles for harvest every year - 300 educated bamboo farmers, a better irrigation
system, a healthier water catchment area in Bali’s second biggest water reservoir, and jobs
and economic opportunities for 8,000 villagers.
Project details till 2012-2014:
Phase I covered the hamlets of Alengkong and Bukit Sari of Songan B Village, Bangli District, with
390 seedlings, and training 5 farmers from each hamlet.
In December 22, 2013, Phase II included planting 4,000 more seedlings, donated by KTI (John Hardy
Jewelry) and training a further 310 farmers.
After seeing the success in the two hamlets where Bali Regreen already works, 12 other hamlets in
the village have asked us to expand the program to
include them in 2015.
Phase III will include planting another 5,000 seedlings in
Meyeh hamlet and ongoing work with farmers until the
crucial first harvest.
How YOU can help!
1. MAKE A DONATION!
Onsite at the KAFE, on Jln Hanoman, Ubud or contact Sarah [email protected], to
donate.
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Buy a VIP ticket to the Bali Spirit Festival and a portion of your ticket will go straight to the
Bali Regreen project.
If you donate USD 100 dollars, Bali Spirit will add your name to the Karma Wall outside
the village of Songan’s bamboo forest in deep gratitude for your contribution.
Consider donating the cost of one yoga class at Yoga Barn and you will support 5 clumps
of bamboo for a year. (5 clumps represent 100 meters square of canopy and go a long
way to supporting Bali Regreen and revitalizing the water catchment area.)
2. JOIN US THIS WEEKEND & PLANT BAMBOO!
Bali Regreen volunteers will travel three hours northeast
to Desa Songan, Batu Meyeh A&B, this weekend, to plant bamboo seedlings in this arid
region.
Please come to help or just to see this amazing, inspiring project for yourself.
We know that once you see what’s happening, you will be a firm advocate of our work
yourself.
Come on, plant bamboo! Its best to come on Sunday, December 13 and 14. Email or
call Ayu for information on how to get there, where to stay etc (Transport available on Sun
for, 100,000rp/ person). CONTAC T AYU: [email protected] or 0818358968.
WHAT WILL YOUR DONATION DO?
In 2015, the Bali Regreen project will need:
1. 3,000 kilograms of fertilizer (at a cost of USD $1,450), to make sure the bamboo forests
survive their first 3 years
2. Bamboo farming mentors (at cost USD $2,000) to work year round to continue to train
320 bamboo farmers
3. 8 kilometers of piping (at cost USD $20,000) to develop a much needed water irrigation
system in the village
4. Building materials and labour (USD $6,000) for a simple bamboo farming resource and
education center.
Supported by: The Bali Regreen project is funded though the BaliSpirit Festival Karma Yoga
Program and with the generous support of Teh Kotak and John Hardy Jewelry (KTI). The
program is is made possible with the strong support of Bapak Nengah Mandiasa, as the head
of Alengkong hamlet and I Ketut Suastika as the farmer coordinator on site, who have played
a major role in building the enthusiasm of their communities, and the Environmental Bamboo
Foundation under the leadership of Arief Rabik, I Made Gunarta of Yayasan Kryasta Guna,
The BaliSpirit Group, and all our volunteers.
Since 2008, through its Karma Yoga Outreach Programs,
the BaliSpirit Festival has helped to raise over
USD $85,000 for its outreach initiatives, including children's
programs, multi-cultural collaborations, HIV & AIDS awareness
and
environmental programs.
For more information and to DONATE please email:
Sarah at [email protected]