1.  TCEC - Turtle Conservation and Education Centre – learn about turtle conservation and release a baby turtle

Serangan Island got the name Turtle Island as sea turtles used to lay eggs on the shoreline around the island. Sadly, over development and other pressures have seen off the turtles and none come to Serangan any more. The formerly common green turtle is now said to be virtually extinct in the area.

We are visiting The Turtle Conservation and Education Center (TCEC) opened by the governor of Bali, Mr Dewa Barata on Serangan island of Bali and supported by WWF. TCEC is developed as part of the comprehensive strategy to eradicate illegal turtle trading on the island. Established on a land of 2.4 ha, the TCEC is trying to support the community of Serangan to find the alternatives beside illegal turtle business. The centre harnesses the potential of education, tourism, conservation and research, with a liberal sprinkling of business, to give endangered turtles one more chance on Serangan.

The four fundamental aspects to the centre include putting a definitive end to turtle trade, by encouraging the public not to consume turtle products (religious use or otherwise), and to generally support turtle conservation; providing turtles for rituals - without their killing - and monitoring turtle size and numbers, so that their use can be strictly controlled and regulated; offering employment opportunities for locals from Serangan; and finally, acting as a watchdog for turtle trade - in Serangan in particular and Bali in general. At the end of our visit we will take a boat to the reef of Serangan where we will be releasing a baby hatchling of sea turtle.

2.  Karya Segara Reef Restoration Association, in collaboration with Planet Nomadas – adopt and plant a baby coral, release a baby seahorse

Organisation that is also promoting marine conservation and coral reef restoration: Karya Segara, community-owned coral reef restoration inniative.

In the mid-1990s tourism resort entrepreneurs carried out a land reclamation project on Serangan Island, tripling its size and connecting it by road to Bali. The result was the destruction of the coral reefs that sustained the fish populations upon which Serangan fisherfolk depended. Unwilling to see their livelihood disappear, the islanders set out to restore the reef on their own by replanting it, one coral at a time.  They created an organization, Karya Segara, and learned from other communities that had successfully rehabilitated coral. With some local government support, and an early grant of $5,000 from Global Greengrants Fund, the group began to plant 5,000 coral cuttings on the sea floor. The initial effort was an enormous success, so they began to engage tourists in reviving this lagoon by allowing them to ‘adopt’ a coral stump. Today, this small project has expanded to 35,000 corals covering two of the five hectares that were destroyed 15 years ago.  

To support this project we will be adopting both a baby coral and baby seahorse. Using Karya Segara’s boat and pontoon, we will head out to the reef nursery together with the local fishermen. Our conservational dive here will consist of a little tour through the underwater nursery and biorocks that hold most of  the Serangan’s coral community. During our dive we will be  planting a baby coral on one of these biorocks and name it. One underwater  picture every six months, during three years, will be sent to you via email for you to see your ’baby’ growing. ….. own biorocks placed on the bottom of Sanur’s Reef Jeladi Willis.

3.  SERC (Scientific Education Research Centre),The Friends of Menjangan Initiative, Biosphere Foundation, Yayasan Dwi Asih Sejahtera – activities that make a direct contribution to the conservation of the natural environment and wildlife of Menjangan Island. Potential activities include Crown of Thorns population control, Coral Reef Identification, Tree reforestation

This is one of the best preserved spots in Bali. West Bali National Park (in Indonesian Taman Nasional Bali Barat) is located on the north western side of Bali. The park covers around 190 square kilometres (73 sq mi), of which are 158 square kilometres (61 sq mi) land and the remainder is sea. This is approximately 5% of Bali's total land area. There are several habitats in the national park, a savanna, mangroves, montane and mixed-monsoon forests, and coral islands
Then we will depart to the SERC (Scientific Education & Research Centre) placed inside the National Park where we will have a visit through the facilities and a briefing for our activities.

Our day starts in a boat trip to Menjangan island. Over the years a combination of dynamite fishing and (dive!) boats anchoring into the coral have taken their toll. In 1997 there was also a population explosion of the coral-eating Crown of Thorns starfish and, in 1998, coral bleaching also affected the area as a result of ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation).
In this trip we will be supporting Friends of Menjangan Inniative. A project of Biosphere Foundation and Yayasan Dwi Asih Sejahtera, is a community-based association dedicated to the care and protection of Menjangan Island (or Deer Island) and its coral reef.

At the end of the trip we will receive a certificate of participation issued by Friends of Menjangan and National Park Authorities.

4.  Reefcheck Organisation Indonesia – Learn about marine monitoring and conservation, complete two coral reef surveys, contribute to Scientific Reef Monitoring for promotion of Marine Protected Area The Reefcheck Organisation  www.reefcheck.or.id

First we offer you the opportunity to learn and experience reefs in a totally new way by completing two coral reef monitoring dives. It’s a really fun way to get some new skills, learn more about marine conservation and monitoring, as well as know that you are contributing approved scientific data to Reefcheck Indonesia, a reputable international conservation organisation.

We complete the dives in the calm waters of Amed, famed for its wall dives and spectacular sponges and soft coral. Before the two dives we give each of you an Ecodiver Kit that includes: a measuring tape, a plastic board & pencil and an underwater identification guide. You will learn how to use the kit to survey a precise area that needs to be sampled which includes identifying and logging species. All data you collate is logged with Reefcheck Indonesia and it is hoped that the data will enable them to push for a Marine Protected Area in the near future. We also give you a recycled paper certificate made by local children proving your contribution to environmental conservation.

It is time to make a move up North and start your scientific diving adventure with a great dive in the calm waters of Amed. A famed  wall dive with spectacular sponges and soft coral is right off the beach  across from Jemeluk. Our two dives in the area will be driven through The Coral Reef Check organization – what is the exact name??. This dive is meant to run a underwater transect, meaning you will be given an Ecodiver Kit  that includes: a measuring tape, a plastic board & pencil and an underwater identification guide. Your dive will consist  in using the Ecokit to survey a precise area that needs to be sampled. You  will line the measuring tape in the bottom of the selected area (50m long) and fill as much data as possible in the board. This is an underwater sampling method aproved by the scientific community and the data obtained in the sampling will be compiled by the ReefCheck Organisaton to push a Marine Protected Area in the near future.

5.  Local Desalination Project – visit local community run salt producing business

6.  Bali Sea Turtle Society – release a baby turtle

Indonesia is the country with the longest coast line in the world that has a tremendous potential in terms of natural resources. Out of 7 sea turtle species, 6 of them can be found in Indonesian waters, they are: Green turtle (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), Olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), Leatherback (Dermochelys coracea), Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and Flatback (Natator depressus).

Bali is one of islands in Indonesia which is well-known for its tourism and also for issue of sea turtle in the last two decades. Bali receives bad reputation for high number of sea turtle trade. This has become the focus of attention in the national and international scope and has created bad impact for tourism in Bali. Our scope?????
This is one day trip up to visit the facilities of the Bali Sea Turtle Society society for the protection of the sea turtle placed in Klungkung where we will have the chance to release a baby turtle back to its natural environment.

7.  GUS Foundation (dedicated to improving Bali’s environment) – visit Waste Processing Facility, information about how we can have positive impact as tourists GUS Foundation, http://www.gus-bali.org

From Amed, we will make a pitstop in Bali’s Model Waste Processing Facility in Gianyar. Run by the GUS foundation, this plant is an essential CDM (Clean Development Mechanisms) Composting project and also  an example of how Bali does it homework. Facing an increasing use of non-organic materials, urbanisation and tourism Bali is now being adressed with a concrete action. This facility keeps landscapes , beaches  and villages clean., avoids methane generation in the landfill by a forced aeration composting processes, improves water and air quality.