ECOTRIP TO SAVE OUR SMALL ISLANDS

Do you like to travel but have little time to do so? Or do you want to go on a holiday while contributing to the sustainability of small islands? Join our 2-day ecotrip, a fun trip with eco-friendly principles.

Divers Clean Action is currently a part of the movement SOSIS (Save Our Small Islands), a program under The Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation (Yayasan KEHATI) as an effort to ensure the sustainability of small islands across Indonesia. In this program, we also work with other organizations such as E-Nyelam, Masyarakat Selam Indonesia (MASI), Biorock Indonesia, Terumbu Karang Indonesia (TERANGI), Jaringan Monitoring (Jarmon) Karang Kepulauan Seribu, Kalabia Project, Klub Indonesia Hijau, Universitas Pancasila, and Bintang Harapan.

As part of this movement, we established a program called “Eco-Trip”. What is Eco-Trip? Eco-Trip is not so different from your usual leisure trips, but it’s done using eco-friendly principles. You can join eco-trip by downloading E-Nyelam application in your smartphone, and book there.

During eco-trip, you will be diving or snorkeling (depends on whether you have a diving license or not) in beautiful spots to see corals, fishes, and other marine beauties. You will also be equipped with nobi bag, a special net bag to collect trash that you will bring to the surface to dispose it in its’ rightful place. You will be reminded to not feed the fishes and not bring the sea creatures out of the water as it will disturb the ecosystem. Please practice your buoyancy as well to avoid stepping or crashing to corals. Other activities you may do in eco-trips are visiting turtle conservations, learning how waste banks and recycling facilities work, planting corals, making ecobricks, and immerse yourself with the local community.

Boats that take you to your dive spots will not be throwing anchors as it can damage corals, but instead will tie the boat to mooring buoys made from reused trash. Participants are also given refillable water bottles, and can borrow food containers so when they buy food and beverage they will not use plastic, thus making the trip as zero-waste as possible. Each boat and homestay has a segregated waste bin to simplify dividing and disposing waste.

Eco-trip is held routinely every month on the 3rd weekend. Up until now, eco-trip is only available in Harapan Island, Kepulauan Seribu, where the tour guides, boatmen, homestays, etc. are ready and able to implement eco-trip. We are in the process of expanding eco-trip to other places, so hopefully all trips in Indonesian islands and oceans could be done without endangering the ecosystem, but saving it instead.

You can also be a part in saving the ocean by implementing eco-trip principles everywhere you go. If you enjoy the beauty of nature, don’t ruin it. Use reusable items and #TakeYourOwnTrash, as being a #ResponsibleTraveller means you do not leave anything behind but your footprints and memories. Join eco-trip for an unforgettable experience, having fun while saving the environment!