What we protect:

Gili islands are three little paradises surrounded by turquoise waters with plenty of coral reefs sheltering thousands of fishes, off north-west Lombok, Indonesia. They are easily reached in less than three hours by boat from Bali.

The biggest is Gili Trawangan and does not exceed ten kilometers perimeter. More festive than Gili Meno and Gili Air, it also attracts more tourists.
There, is the NGO Gili Eco Trust, aimed at protecting the splendid environment of these islands and wonderful ecosystems of their coral reefs.

Gili islands from the sky (from left to right: Trawangan, Meno, Air)

Protecting land environment is important, as everyone knows, but too often, people forget the importance of protecting coral too, whereas it is so essential for life on Earth:

• Because of the diversity of life forms they shelter (fishes, shellfishes, mollusks, shrimps, seaweeds, sponges…), coral reefs are real ecosystems. Their biodiversity is higher than anywhere else on the globe.
• Corals are the real Earth’s lungs. They participate more actively to the renewing of oxygen by absorbing CO2 than forests !
• From an economic aspect, coral reefs are a “gold mine”. They are not only a source of food, but also of various materials (handcraft, jewelry, building material…). Moreover they represent a substantial tourism income.
• Finally coral reefs are a natural barrier against waves’ attacks. Thus coasts are efficiently and durably protected against erosion.

Why we protect it:

Gili islands’ balance is at stake because of many causes.

Whereas corals are fragile organisms which depend on precise environmental conditions, they suffer from multiple attacks: climate change, waters’ warming, tsunamis, storms, pollution, use of toxic products, wrong fishing techniques, boats' anchoring in the reefs, tourism…

Today only 6% of Indonesia’s reefs are intact. The situation is quite the same in the rest of the world. So, the urgency of an action to restore corals is real.

That is why the Gili Eco Trust developed patrols in the fishing areas in association with the SATGAS, the implementation of mooring buoys against the use of anchors, the installation of Biorock structures around Gili islands and the organization of Biorock workshop every 2 years, to spread this kind of actions to other coral reefs in the rest of the world.

- Much information about the Gili Eco Trust Biorock program is available in “About BioRock”. -

Two Biorock structures installed by the Gili Eco Trust
 

Land environment of Gili islands is also at stake. Amongst the causes of degradation are still climate change, storms, tsunamis, pollution, use of toxic products, tourism, but there are also deforestation, unawareness of populations and tourists, bad waste management, animals’ treatment and management…

And thus a rude reality lies behind the paradisiac aspect of the Gili islands which risks to lead to disastrous environmental situations.

There too the Gili Eco Trust is active, by improving waste management, struggling against erosion, raising awareness of local population and tourists and getting animals’ life conditions better.

- All these projects are detailed in “Eco-projects”. -

What we do is important.
We need every possible support to improve the situation.