The Gili Eco Trust was created in 2001 to fight destructive fishing methods happening in Gili Matra Marine Protected Area in Indonesia. The Gili Islands are located North West of Lombok island in Nusa Tenggara Barat, heart of the Coral Triangle. Gili Matra is a Marine Touristic park established in 1980 as a Marine Protected Area to protect the large population of Blue Coral in the shallow waters of the 3 Gilis.
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The Gili Eco Trust (GET) covers all the levels towards ecotourism and sustainability from ocean conservation and reef restoration to waste management solutions and education as well as animal welfare and marine turtle protection!
We had the chance to interview Delphine Robbe, (Manager of GET) and learn more about the importance of their work.
What is the mission of GET?
The Gili Eco Trust’s mission is to protect, conserve and educate. Its main goal is to establish a unique relationship between stakeholders, local communities, businesses and government to work together towards ecotourism and sustainable development. The Gili Eco Trust is covering many projects in the Gili islands with objectives such as:
- restoring coral reefs
- protecting and conserving the oceans
- fighting against plastic pollution
- educating and raising awareness about eco-tourism and sustainability
- beach, land and underwater clean-up
- implementing circular economy in waste management
- recycling and up-cycling
- animal welfare
How did you manage during this pandemic time?
As local businesses closed down, and no tourists were around, we had to change our strategies to be able to stay “alive”, maintain our projects and think forward for when the crisis will be over. All our helpers went back home and we had to manage how to fund-raise and find donations from outside Gili Islands as well as staying active in our different projects with minimum manpower. Many projects had to be put on hold but we managed to keep the main ones running and maintained.
What are your achievements and future plans?
We have restored about 1 hectare of reefs using the Biorock technology and will restore even more this year including marine turbines to power the Biorock with renewable blue energy.
(Dynorotor marine turbine: The sea for the reefs: marine currents to power reef restoration) https://www.dynorotor.com/
Every year we collect up to 7,000 tons of rubbish from our beach and illegal dumping.
Every clean up is combined with education about the type of waste to get people aware about the importance of waste selection and how to minimise their plastic production by changing their consumption.
Gili Eco Trust has organised more than 100 cat and horse clinics focusing on education about care and animal welfare as well as providing free treatments.
We have joined donating platforms such as Global Giving for a marine turtle nursery and hospital project, and we are planning in setting up more projects in this great platform.
Why should people support your cause?
You can choose where your donations go. If you love animals (cats and horses), your donation will be put to use there. If you’d want to help reefs, sustainability, clean ups, turtles, Eco-tourism, education and so on, it’s your decision. We do what we do because we love it.
While, donations are necessary to help the charities and non-profits which need assistance, it is good to make sure that you know where you are donating your money. For example, if you choose animal related charities and organizations as recipients, your donations will go toward a cause that you care about the most. When donating money, knowing what your choice did is crucial so that it is evident if the donation made an effect or not.
Here you have the chance to support Gili Eco Trust and make the Gilis clean and sustainable!
Thank you so much.
Donate to Yayasan Ekosistem Gili Indah
Photos by Gili Eco Trust & Charlie Laur
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