Beauty of Bali under threat from pressures of mass tourism

• For years Bali, the pearl among the Sunda Islands, has been touted as an earthly paradise, thanks to the its tropical landscapes, its white sandy beaches, the tormented beauty of itsHindu temples and its inhabitants' reputation for kindness and tolerance.
• But this idyllic spot may soon be a thing of the past, with the threat of Bali – population 3.5 million – changing beyond recognition, a prey to the accumulated effects of mass tourism,unbridled consumption of resources and environmental collapse.
• "From the 1970s onwards Bali really became a tourist destination," says Wayan Suardana, head of Walhisimilan, a conservation group campaigning for the environment.
• Hundreds of hotels use up a large share of freshwater reserves, with each four-star room consuming 300 litres a day. 
• More than a million visitors came to Bali in 2001. The figures for 2011 suggest that numbers have more than doubled since, ultimately unaffected by the 2002 terror attack, which left 202 dead, including many Australians.
• In an attempt to mitigate the ill effects of mass tourism on the local Hindu culture – an exception in largely Muslim Indonesia – the authorities have introduced environmental legislation.
• So far this initiative has made no difference. Efforts to decentralise government in Indonesia – a patchwork of 17,000 islands with a population of 240 million – have given a disproportionate share of power to the bupati (elected high sheriffs), who run areas roughly equivalent to a British county.
• "Local leaders have no long-term perspective," he adds. "They want a quick return on investments and tourism allows that.
• In January 2011, the governor of Bali, Made Mangku Pastika, issued a ban on new buildings in heavily developed areas, warning that Bali was in danger of becoming a sterile land bristling with concrete. 
• "We have used culture as merchandise," says poet and theatre director Ketut Yuliarsa, a native of Ubud. He is horrified by the turn of events.
• It is all the more difficult to halt such trends, because the travel trade does have a positive side."People are better off, living standards have improved.
• "Four-fifths of Balinese society is deeply committed to daily worship," says Audrey Lamou, who headed the Alliance Française on the island for several years.
• At the same time, "the Balinese are increasingly obsessed with easy money," Lamou says.
• "Institutions such as gamelans [musical ensembles] are dying out and the Balinese language is gradually losing ground to the official language of Indonesia.
• Compared with other holiday venues in south-east Asia, Bali has retained much of its magic, at least in the areas so far spared by mass tourism.