GILI eco trust
Protecting coral reefs around the Gili Islands
The island of Gili T is one particularly close to our hearts - it's the final stop on our Bali Experience tour and a fan favorite of our travellers as well as most travellers visiting the Bali area. When we met the team at Gili Eco Trust and learned about what they were doing we knew we had to get involved!
The Gili Eco Trust is an NGO that was founded in 2000 to protect the coral reefs around the Gili islands from destructive fishing. Since then, Gili Eco Trust has grown and expanded its activities from marine conservation to waste management and sustainable eco tourism. From 2004, Gili Eco Trust started the Biorock project, creating artificial reefs and restoring the natural habitat of thousands of fish in previously destroyed areas of reef. Gili Eco Trust also supervises the waste management on Gili Trawangan from collection to processing recyclable materials and transporting them off the island. Glass collected from the beer bottles gets crushed up using a machine, and made into eco bricks which are then sold to local businesses in Bali for a fair price.
In addition to these inititiaves, they also host many educational events for locals and tourists to show the best sustainable practices. Their eco-warriors also patrol the island to protect turtle nests from illegal poachers, and ensure they hatch safely and make it into the sea. Gili Eco Trust work tirelessly to protect the environment and receive no help from the government, relying solely on volunteers and donations. So we knew it was time to help!
TruTravels / Gili Eco Trust Fundraisers
Over the course of 2019/2020, we held two pool party fundraisers at Mad Monkey Gili T and with the donations received for the Xmas Mission, raised over 3500 GBP total! Our first fundraiser was in July, 2019 where a huge portion went towards supporting the 'No Anchors in Gili Matra' project (the marine area surrounding the 3 Gili Islands.) Illegal mooring of boats means that huge heavy anchors are thrown into the sea everyday which destroys the coral on the sea bed, and also the artificial reef systems which try to promote coral growth.
By the time we held the second fundraiser in October 2019, the Gili Eco Trust were in need of two new rubbish collection trucks, as well as funds to help transport the sorted rubbish and plastic off the island to be recycled. We managed to raise over 400 GBP at this pool party event, and another 2600 GBP later in the year for our Christmas Fundraiser! This 3000 went a long way toward helping transport the rubbish and plastic off the island, and therefore allowing them to do their job of keeping the island clean and rubbish free.
How you Can Get Involved
We are proud to support such a wonderful organisation like the Gili Eco Trust, which is helping support the locals by giving them jobs and also preventing and managing the waste on the island . If you are as passionate as us about giving back, here's some ways that you can help out..
- If you visit Gili T on one of our tours and you have some free time, you can volunteer with the Gili Eco Trust in their sorting centre. Even just an hour helps them so much as there is so much rubbish collected on the island every day that needs to be gone through and separated. Every little bit helps!
- Help out at one of their beach cleans. They happen every Friday on the island, and is a great way to make a small impact. The amount of plastic straws that might be hiding on the beaches is unreal, so helping out for an hour to clean the beach is a great way to protect the environment AND save the turtles. Plus, everyone who volunteers also gets a free beer ;)
- Check out the Gili Eco Trust shop on the island. They have a wide range of eco-friendly products such as bamboo/metal straws, jewellery made from up-cycled materials, natural shampoo bars that don't release harmful chemicals into the water!! All these products help us be eco-travellers and travel sustainably.
- If you can't make it to Bali, but really want to help support this cause, head to our GoFundMe page to donate! Any amount no matter how big or small is greatly appreciated, helps make a change and helps keep Gili T plastic free! Just add 'Gili Eco Trust' in the comments so we know who you're donating for and we'll make sure your donation goes to a great cause!
