Cempaka Culture and Tourism: Local man leads mangrove tours in Jungut Batu

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Local man leads mangrove tours in Jungut Batu

Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Lembongan

Sukitra wasn't born a conservationist. It was a turn of events in his home village of Jungut Batu that transformed him into a leading figure of mangrove conservation.

"Several years ago, the villagers decided to open a large-scale salt farm on the beach near the village. In order to do so, we cleared the mangrove forest along the village's coast," he told The Jakarta Post last week.

It was a doomed enterprise. It turned out that salt farming was a grueling endeavor with a large window for failure. Moreover, the clearing of the mangroves made the village more vulnerable to natural disaster.

"The mangrove forest was a natural barrier. When it was gone, the sea water could easily reach our village and it did flood the village several times," he said.

Jungut Batu lies in the northern part of Nusa Lembongan, one of the three islands off Bali's southeastern coast. Nusa Lembongan is a favorite destination for visitors who yearn for a quiet hideaway with a fantastic beach.

The villagers abandoned salt farming and sought their fortunes in seaweed farming. They also replanted the mangrove forest.

"One day a French man came here and he was amazed to see how healthy and abundant the mangrove forest was," Sukitra said.

The foreign visitor later told Sukitra the mangrove forest had promise as a tourist attraction.

"I was so inspired by what he said that later I approached my fellow villagers and asked them to join me in establishing a group that would manage the mangrove forest as a tourist attraction," he said.

In 2000, Sukitra and 18 other villagers worked together and formed the group. It was later named the Mangrove Tour Group and Sukitra was elected its head.

"Each member provided one boat to the group. The boats would be used to take visitors on a tour across the forest," he said.

For a single trip of around 30 minutes, the group charges each visitor Rp 50,000 (US$5.40).

"We set aside Rp 5,000 for the village and Rp 2,000 for the group's fund and the remaining Rp 43,000 goes to the boat owners," he said.

The mangrove tour provides additional income to the group's members, who work mostly as seaweed farmers.

Sukitra said now the group had 33 members. Once a month, all the members participate in a clean-up activity to comb the forest looking for garbage.

Unfortunately, said Sukitra, the group had yet to receive proper support from village leaders.

"This group has yet to be officially acknowledged by the head of the village even though we have set aside a percentage of our income for the village," he said.

An outreach specialist of the Nature Conservancy, Marthen Welly, said he was impressed with the group's efforts.

"They are able to organize themselves in preserving this mangrove forest. All we have to do is to facilitate cooperation between the group and the village so that this place can be better promoted and developed," he said.