Approximately 600 volunteers, comprising local residents, hotel employees, and visitors, convened at the shores of Bali, Asia’s top-rated paradise island, to address the significant accumulation of plastic debris stranded due to recent monsoonal downpours.
On Kedonganan Beach in south Bali, plastic cups, straws, utensils, and used coffee packets littered the shoreline, mingled with vegetation and wooden debris.
Defying the downpour, volunteers gathered rubbish manually, amassing hundreds of big bags.
The environmental NGO Sungai Watch characterized the occurrence as the most severe case of plastic pollution in Bali’s history.
As stated by founder Gary Bencheghib, they gathered 25 tonnes of waste within just six days, setting a new record for their initiative. The majority of this plastic waste comes from Java, which is the nation’s most densely populated island.
Indonesia ranks as one of the biggest sources of plastic and marine contamination globally, where yearly monsoons carry plastic debris from urban areas and waterways out to sea.
A significant portion of this waste covers vast distances, extending up to several hundred kilometers, before ending up on Bali’s renowned shores, especially between November and March.
Bali was recognized as
the
most beautiful island in
Asia
as chosen by readers of the American magazine Condé Nast Traveler in their Readers’ Choice Awards.
Between January and December last year, it received 6.3 million international tourists, marking a 19.5% increase compared to the previous year and exceeding pre-pandemic numbers, as reported by the Bali Provincial Tourism Office.