West Bali National Park is not the only conservation spot for Bali Starling, now; Nusa Penida is a home of a hundred these nearly-extinct birds. Nusa Penida Bird Sanctuary is a new reservation spot for Bali Starling organized by Begawan Giri Foundation, and Friend of National Park Foundation with the support of the whole Nusa Penida’s community.

In this island the birds is protected by the whole community of Nusa Penida, by addition of a decree on bird conservation in the awig-awig (traditional law) of Nusa Penida. The community enforces sanctions such as fines and sepekin banjar (ostracized) for anyone caught harming the birds. All 35 villages on Nusa Penida island have now signed bird protection laws and villages and Harbour Authorities are working together to fight the illicit trade. The role of community is not just end up there, at the sanctuary young people from the surrounding village are trained as staff in the clinic; bird handling and research procedures.

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In the opening of United Nation Climate Change Conference (UNCCC), Nyepi day was proposed to be world day in order to minimize the carbon dioxide ratio in the air. It is stated in local Balinese media that the world need silence for a while and Nyepi, the celebration of Caka Lunar Calendar in Bali, will be applied to fulfill the necessity.

In fact, the philosophy of Nyepi day itself does not have any correlation to the nature conservation. It is just a New Year celebration which is conducted by doing nothing and without any big party. Yes, this is a unique thing of the Balinese in celebrating their New Year while the other New Year celebrations are carried out with a lot of food, drinks, joy, and always in crowd situation but the Balinese consider the New Year day as a good chance to purify the senses and get closer to God to have a better life on the new day. Coincidentally this way of custom gives the nature chance to breath.

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Bali is a part of Indonesian archipelago; lying 3.2 km east of Java and 24 west of Lombok, compare with some of the Indonesian archipelago’s giant islands, Bali is quite small with an area of 5,632 square kilometers The island is approximately 135 km wide east to west and 90 km north to south. The highest point is Mount Agung at 3,142 m (10,308 feet) and the lowest is the beaches all over the island (sea level, 0 m). Located approximately 8 degrees south of the equator, Bali has warm tropical climate with plenty of rain and agreeable dry season.

Bali is noted for the beauty and variety of the landscapes from coastal lowland to the exhilarating high mountain lakes, barren limestone plateaus to thick monsoon forests. A west-to-east volcanic chain divides the island in half. Bali’s mountains covered in tall rainforest stand in contrast to the wild and rugged beauty of volcanic craters, some of which are still active. Crater lakes are found at Batur in the east and Bratan, Buyan and Tamblingan in the rich submontane rainforest area around Bedugul. Fast flowing rivers, deep ravines, rugged saddles, and alluvial slopes score the surface of the island.

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The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) will jointly organize a Global Business Day during the 13th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bali.

The Bali Global Business Day (10 December 2007) will bring together 200-300 decision makers from companies, governments, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations.

This event will send a strong message that business wants a successful completion of a new global climate change framework beyond 2012 that includes a clear and ambitious long-term strategy for reducing global carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.

It will also demonstrate the capacities and commitments of leading companies and business sectors to provide solutions to the climate challenge.

And the day will highlight the policies and financing requirements that will enable companies and markets to successfully develop and disseminate the technologies and practices required by an ambitious global mitigation plan.

Four panels including business leaders, government officials and civil society experts will review the issues at stake for COP 13. They will explore and suggest ways forward. The Bali Global Business Day will provide a unique and useful focus on the main challenges in designing a new global climate mitigation and adaptation regime.

The Bali Global Business Day will be on Monday 10 December 2007 at the Conrad Hotel, Bali.

The name of the event, Tri Hita Karana, is derived from the Balinese philosophy of life. Tri Hita Karana emphasizes that happiness can only be attained if the Creator, people and nature live in harmony with each other. It reflects the objectives of responsible business, balancing people, the planet and profit as the basis for sustainable development.

The event is organized with the support of Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited (APRIL), an Indonesian member company of the WBCSD.

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Purnama, or full moon in Bali is always a special day for ceremonies and festivities. Hundreds of temples all over the island celebrate their anniversary on a specific full moon each year. Since full moon is also considered as an auspicious day, hundreds of ceremonies are held in all corner of the island on this sacred day. When a holiday such as Galungan is happen together with the purnama, the scale of the festivity and ceremony of this holyday is doubled, with more offerings and decoration than a Galungan without purnama.

Balinese believe purnama is a propitious day when God descends to the earth and gives His blessing. Balinese make special offering to the God in this holyday, give alms, reciting religious hymn, or set a pilgrimage to a remote temple, but for teenagers, the Jagatnatha Temple in the heart of Denpasar is the only destination. Balinese also believe that purnama is the best time for making good deeds or doing religious activities since the reward of them will be multiplied by 100.

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One and half-hour drive from Denpasar to Sibetan village is not a waste time. The winding road to Sibetan through palm-leafed fenced terraced rice fields offers breathtaking sceneries. Rows of the rice fields perch on the slopes of the hills border here and there with bamboo and snake fruit plants create a stunning view to behold that makes one and half-hour drive seems to last only a few moments.

Situated on the foot of the majestic and still active Mt Agung, Sibetan is a quiet and traditional village, with cool temperature, and clean air. This village is well known among the Balinese as the “Home of Salak (snake fruit),” Thousands of salak trees from 14 species grow here due to the agreeable climate and extreme fertility of the soil. The Sibetan village owes this extreme soil fertility and abundance of salak plants to the Mount Agung that erupted in 1963, blanketing the village farmlands sending volcanic dust and rocks, making a return to normal agriculture impossible.

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