History - Bali and Lombok - page 22

A number of plants have great practical and economic significance. Tiing
(bamboo) is grown in several varieties and is used for everything from satay
sticks and string to rafters and gamelan (traditional Balinese orchestral
music) resonators. The various types of palm provide coconuts, sugar, fuel
and fibre.
FLOWERS & GARDENS
Balinese gardens are a delight. The soil and climate can support a huge
range of plants, and the Balinese love of beauty and the abundance of cheap
labour means that every space can be landscaped. The style is generally
informal, with curved paths, a rich variety of plants and usually a water
feature. Who can't be enchanted by a frangipani tree dropping a carpet of
fragrant blossoms?
You can find almost every type of flower in Bali, but some are seasonal and
others are restricted to the cooler mountain areas. Many of the flowers will
be familiar to visitors - hibiscus, bougainvillea, poinsettia, oleander, jasmine,
water lily and aster are commonly seen in the southern tourist areas, while
roses, begonias and hydrangeas are found mainly in the mountains. Less-
familiar flowers include: Javanese ixora (soka , angsoka), with round clusters
of bright red-orange flowers; champak (cempaka), a very fragrant member
of the magnolia family; flamboyant, the flower of the royal poinciana flame
tree; manori (maduri), which has a number of traditional uses; and water
convolvulus (kangkung), the leaves of which are commonly used as a green
vegetable. There are literally thousands of species of orchid.

SEA TURTLES
Both the green-sea and hawksbill turtles inhabit the waters around Bali and Lombok, and the
species are supposedly protected by international laws that prohibit trade in anything made
from sea turtles.
In Bali, however, green-sea turtle meat is a traditional and very popular delicacy, particularly for
Balinese feasts. Bali is the site of the most intensive slaughter of green-sea turtles in the world -
no reliable figures are available, although in 1999 it was estimated that more than 30,000 are
killed annually. A survey conducted in the past few years suggests that 4000 or more turtles are
smuggled off the island annually as part of illegal trade. It's easy to find the trade on the back
streets of waterside towns such as Benoa. One irony is that tourism money helps more people
afford turtle meat both for consumption and for religious rituals and offerings.
Many individuals and organisations are involved in protecting the species, including Heinz von
Holzen, the owner of Bumbu Bali restaurant in Tanjung Benoa (p138), and the Reef Seen Turtle
Project at Reef Seen Aquatics in Pemuteran (p269). Bali's Hindu Dharma, the body overseeing
religious practice, has decreed that turtle meat is essential in only very vital ceremonies.

The brilliant red of a
hibiscus flower is at the
centre of many a Balinese
temple offering and
decoration. Although
they last but a day, the
flowers grow in such
profusion that there is
always a new supply.

Besides providing the
leaves for lontar books,
rontal palms also supply
the sap needed to make
tuac, the brutal home-
made palm beer that's
been the basis for many a
hangover.

male activity and a man's fighting bird is his prized possession. Balinese pigs
are related to wild boar, and look really gross, with their sway backs and
sagging stomachs. They inhabit the family compound, cleaning up all the
garbage and eventually end up spit-roasted at a feast - they taste a lot better
than they look.
Balinese cattle, by contrast, are delicate and graceful animals that seem
more akin to deer than cows. Although the Balinese are Hindus, they do not
generally treat cattle as holy animals, yet cows are rarely eaten or milked. They
are, however, used to plough rice paddies and fields, and there is a major
export market for Balinese cattle to Hong Kong and other parts of Asia.
Ducks are another everyday Balinese domestic animal and a regular
dish at feasts. Ducks are kept in the family compound, and are put out to
a convenient pond or flooded rice field to feed during the day. They fol-
low a stick with a small flag tied to the end, and the stick is left planted in
the field. As sunset approaches the ducks gather around the stick and wait
to be led home again. The morning and evening duck parades are one of
Bali's small delights.

The environmental
group, World Wide
Fund for Nature (www
.wwf.or.id), is active on
both Bali and Lombok. It
has programmes focused
on reefs, sea turtles and
more.

RICE
Rice cultivation has shaped the social landscape - the intricate organisation necessary for growing
rice is a large factor in the strength of Bali's community life. Rice cultivation has also changed
the environmental landscape - terraced rice fields trip down hillsides like steps for a giant, in
shades of gold, brown and green, green and more green.
The elaborate irrigation system used to grow rice makes careful use of all the surface water.
The fields are a complete ecological system, home for much more than just rice. In the early
morning you'll often see the duck herders leading their flocks out for a day's paddle around a
flooded rice field; the ducks eat various pests and leave fertiliser in their wake.
There are three words for rice - padi is the growing rice plant (hence paddy fields); beras is
the uncooked grain; and nasi is cooked rice, as in nasi goreng (fried rice) and nasi putih (plain
rice). A rice field is called a sawah .
A harvested field with its left-over burnt rice stalks is soaked with water and repeatedly
ploughed, often by two bullocks pulling a wooden plough. Once the field is muddy enough, a
small corner is walled off and seedling rice is planted there. When it is a reasonable size it is
replanted, shoot by shoot, in the larger field. While the rice matures there is time to practise the
gamelan (traditional Balinese orchestral music), watch the dancers or do a little woodcarving.
Finally, the whole village turns out for the harvest - a period of solid hard work. It's strictly men
only planting the rice, but everybody takes part in harvesting it.
In 1969, new high-yield rice varieties were introduced. These can be harvested a month sooner
than the traditional variety and are resistant to many diseases.
However the new varieties also have greater needs for fertilizer and irrigation water, which
strain the imperilled water supplies. More pesticides are also needed; this has caused the deple-
tion of the frog and eel populations, which depend on the insects for survival.

Plants
TREES
Almost all of the island is cultivated, and only in the Taman Nasional Bali
Barat are there traces of Bali's earliest plant life. As with most things in Bali,
trees have a spiritual and religious significance, and you'll often see them
decorated with scarves and black-and-white check cloths. The waringin (ban-
yan) is the holiest Balinese tree and no important temple is complete without
a stately one growing within its precincts. The banyan is an extensive, shady
tree with an exotic feature creepers that drop from its branches take root
to propagate a new tree. Thus the banyan is said to be 'never-dying', since
new offshoots can always take root. Jepun (frangipani or plumeria trees),
with their beautiful and sweet-smelling white flowers are also common in
temples and family compounds.
Bali has monsoonal rather than tropical rainforests, so it lacks the valuable
rainforest hardwoods that require rain year-round. The forestry department

Mangoes are one of
the leading cultivated
trees in Bali. You'll
see these green heavy
hangers growing almost
everywhere; in gardens,
fields and by the side of