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NUSA LEMBONGAN, Indonesia: Before the coronavirus pandemic took hold of Indonesia, the pristine beaches of the island of Lembongan washed by the Indian Ocean were dotted with sunbathing tourists from around the world.
Now, with many visitors missing and the economy in shambles, locals are often seen carrying baskets laden with seaweed onto the shore amid a shift back to previous ways of making a living.
“I feel sad because we lost our jobs and now we have to start from scratch,” said I Gede Darma Putra, 43, a native of Lembongan, who used to guide tourists as a dive master.
Like many locals on this small island about 50 km from Bali, he and his wife Kadek Kristiani now wade through crystal clear waters to collect algae that grow in lines.
Bali typically draws millions of visitors a year, many drawn to the beaches in places like Lembongan, but plans to reopen to foreign tourists have been postponed indefinitely due to escalating COVID-19 cases in Indonesia.
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With many restaurants and bars closed on the island, seaweed drying fills the streets as tourism workers return to an industry that died a decade ago, despite Indonesia’s status as the world’s second largest seaweed producer behind China.
“Farmers are starting to plant algae again,” said Boedi Sarkana Julianto of the Indonesian Natural Resources Network (JASUDA), a non-governmental organization that grows algae.
Gede Darma Putra, a 43-year-old dive master who lost his job, prepares to plant algae in Nusa Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia, on September 25, 2020 (Photo: REUTERS / Nyimas Laula).
“At first I was confused, asking myself, ‘What should I do?'” Said Kadek, 34. “But along the way we found this job, planting seaweed … and we got some income to buy food and things for our children.”
Wali Putra, a 50-year-old restaurant manager who has been farming algae for most of his life, said the pandemic reminded him of his childhood.
“Before the tourist boom … what brought the people of Lembongan to life was seaweed,” he said.
READ: COVID-19 – Indonesia offers free stays in Bali to test tourist readiness
Gede Darma Putra, a 43-year-old dive master who lost his job, prepares to plant algae in Nusa Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia, on September 25, 2020 (Photo: REUTERS / Nyimas Laula).
However, algae farming is a laborious and less lucrative job than tourism, especially since the pandemic has reduced demand.
Farmers say the dried seaweed, destined for processing and to be exported for use in food, currently sells for around 12,000 rupees (US $ 0.80) per kilo, generating income of up to $ 400 per month. That’s just over half of what the same loot would have brought before the pandemic, JASUDA’s Boedi estimated.
I Putu Astawa, director of the Bali Tourism Board, said visitors are still needed because “agriculture alone cannot bring Bali’s economy back to normal.”
But some locals, like 51-year-old seaweed teacher and farmer Wayan Ujiana, are taking the pandemic as a lesson to not rely too heavily on tourism: “Don’t forget to diversify your income, so that when problems arise we won’t collapse.”
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