# Indigenous community on Bali island fights for land rights # Mass tourism seen as threat to livelihoods, conservation # Indigenous peoples to play key role in global nature pledges Deep inside his tribe’s sacred rainforest on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali, Indigenous guide Putu Willy Suputra looks on in disbelief as a group of tourists video themselves mimicking monkeys by swinging on a long, woody vine. Suputra is a member of the 20,000-strong Adat Dalem Tamblingan Indigenous community who have lived in northern Bali since the 9th century and want rights to curb tourism and protect their rainforest and lake. “These types of things really hurt me,” the 27-year-old said. “That liana will definitely die.” “If we go into this forest, it is enough to walk, se...
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Far from Bali’s beaches and hotels, farmer I Ketut Jata stands on a mountainside, staring at terraced land that is too dry to grow the rice his family has long relied on for food and income. “It is no longer possible to work in the fields as a farmer,” he says. Bali’s water crisis is worsening from tourism development, population growth and water mismanagement, experts and environmental groups warn. Water shortages already are affecting UNESCO sites, wells, food production and Balinese culture and experts say the situation will deteriorate further if existing water control policies are not enforced across the island. A farmer works in a field with a traditional terrace irrigation system called a "subak' in Jatiluwih in Tabanan, Bali, Indonesia, Monday, April 18, 2022. (AP Photo/T...
Read MoreDozens of world leaders and other dignitaries are traveling to Bali for the G-20 summit, drawing a welcome spotlight on the revival of the tropical island’s vital tourism sector. Tourism is the main source of income on this idyllic “island of the gods” that is home to more than 4 million people, who are mainly Hindu in the mostly Muslim archipelago nation. Tourists walk past a G20 banner in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati) So the pandemic hit Bali harder than most places in Indonesia. Before the pandemic, 6.2 million foreigners arrived in Bali each year. Its lively tourism scene faded after the first case of COVID-19 was found in Indonesia in March 2020, with restaurants and resorts shuttered and many workers returning to villages...
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