Mary (from the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State,) and I took a 30 minute fast ferry to a small island, Nusa Pasida, off of Bali today.
Nusa Pasida has traditional villages that farm seaweed. The farmers tie small pieces of viable (dark green coloured) seaweed every 10 cm or so to a long rope.
The rope is then anchored to the seabed floor, back and forth in the shape of a square, and left for 40 days. The rope is then pulled up and the seaweed is harvested. The harvested seaweed is left in the sun to dry.
Dried seaweed is shipped off the island and used as a thickener in many products. ( Just look on any salad dressing bottle for xanthan gum. That is really seaweed!) Some viable pieces of seaweed are then retied on rope and replanted on the seabed floor for the next harvest.
Nusa Pasida has traditional villages that farm seaweed. The farmers tie small pieces of viable (dark green coloured) seaweed every 10 cm or so to a long rope.
Here, in a small shed, a family (Mom, Dad and Son) are tying pieces of seaweed to the long rope.
Only the green pieces of seaweed are alive. These pieces are used to propagate new seaweed beds.
Dark square patches on the sandy ocean bottom are seaweed beds.
Seaweed drying in the sun on the rocky beach shore.
Dried seaweed is shipped off the island and used as a thickener in many products. ( Just look on any salad dressing bottle for xanthan gum. That is really seaweed!) Some viable pieces of seaweed are then retied on rope and replanted on the seabed floor for the next harvest.
Also on the island is a rehabilitation facility for Bali Starlings and Java Sparrows.
We stopped and got the tour at the Nusa Penida Bird Sanctuary which is affiliated with Friends of National Parks Foundation and sponsored by Began Giri Foundation. The facility staff work with the village people and in return the villagers protect the birds that they release. We saw about 6 starlings in the wild. A dozen or more Bali Starlings and the same number of Java Sparrows in captivity being readied for release. When the birds are ready to be released there is a temple ceremony. The birds are blessed and released from the temple as so they are considered sacred by the local people and are not poached.
www.fnpf.org
We also saw the gardens where the foundation staff plant seedling trees to give to the locals to plant wherever they want and also to plant in deforested areas. (they have over 10,000 coconut palms planted as well as many other trees.) This tree planting keeps the habitat for the birds and helps the locals have fruit trees that they can eat from. A win - win situation.
The centre is conducting studies about composting and growing vegetables. Currently all the vegetable produce has to be shipped to the island. Mr. Mike is using hand composting and mulching to provide nutrients and retain water in this dry area. He has been very successful so far. It is hoped that this vegie study will provide some local vegies for the people. We ate some of the first ever grown Roma tomatoes on the island. Wonderful!!
Bali Starling
Java Sparrow
We stopped and got the tour at the Nusa Penida Bird Sanctuary which is affiliated with Friends of National Parks Foundation and sponsored by Began Giri Foundation. The facility staff work with the village people and in return the villagers protect the birds that they release. We saw about 6 starlings in the wild. A dozen or more Bali Starlings and the same number of Java Sparrows in captivity being readied for release. When the birds are ready to be released there is a temple ceremony. The birds are blessed and released from the temple as so they are considered sacred by the local people and are not poached.
www.fnpf.org
We also saw the gardens where the foundation staff plant seedling trees to give to the locals to plant wherever they want and also to plant in deforested areas. (they have over 10,000 coconut palms planted as well as many other trees.) This tree planting keeps the habitat for the birds and helps the locals have fruit trees that they can eat from. A win - win situation.
The centre is conducting studies about composting and growing vegetables. Currently all the vegetable produce has to be shipped to the island. Mr. Mike is using hand composting and mulching to provide nutrients and retain water in this dry area. He has been very successful so far. It is hoped that this vegie study will provide some local vegies for the people. We ate some of the first ever grown Roma tomatoes on the island. Wonderful!!
We were allowed to visit their temple which is very highly revered by the people of Bali. There were ceremonies going on there today. We had to don a sarong to enter the temple. It was very beautiful.
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