Nafka – 2nd chance to be Better
Talks and responsible lifestyle products presentation

Sunday 22 April 2012 | 2-4pm
at Little Tree Green Building Center
Jl. Sunset Road No. 112x, Kuta – Bali

Presentation and discussion sessions:
1. Responsible lifestyle product ideas by NAFKA | Ayip
2. Financing creative and good projects by Patungan.net | Enrico Halim
3. The making of Wisnu Open Space | Made Suarnatha

A designer’s job is to make sure that the model can be converted into a working prototype – a blue print for the manufacturer. However, it is in our nature to measure individuality. Since the 1980s designers have been injecting unique identity “chromosomes” into their products on an industry scale.

High-income earners – which are the industry target – fill the empty space of boredom in their lives by shopping. But possessing the exact same product as everyone else only creates a new kind of boredom. The era of uniform consumerism has ended. Mass products are now being challenged by truly individual designs. Yes, it’s pseudo individualism.

During the 1980s, the concern for environmental damage was no longer exclusive to environmentalists. The call to stop deforestation, environmental pollution, and the green house effect entered into popular culture. Terms such as Eco, Green, and Global Warming were often used, while at the same time the importance of the 3Rs (Reuse – Reduce – Recycle) became ever more apparent.

Recycling can sometimes be too expensive and requires a lot of energy. Which is why some people turn to upcycling, which means converting waste or unused materials into something useful, like the products developed by Freitag. In Bali, Nafka initiated a laboratory for creative designers focused on developing responsible lifestyle products. In June 2011, Nafka showed their first exhibit in Denpasar titled Wonderground. Nafka will once again be showing the creations of their designers at the Ecologically Sustainable Solutions Week on April 16–22, 2012 at Little Tree in Kuta, Bali.

To create designs out of used materials, Nafka designers focus on planning the shapes. Through the process, the used materials can offer unexpected visual surprises. It’s as if looking at a montage or photo collage by artists from the Dadaism era on products such as bags, sofas, room partitions and lamp shades, all made from reclaimed waste or used plastic wrappers. Cut up images, numbers or letters, a build up of colors.

Nafka products seem to fuse the line between art and craft in the shape of everyday accessories. Visually they are attractive. Nafka products are a refreshing surprise in the droll of everyday standard mass-produced products. Nafka products are truly one-of-a-kind.

The products may represent individual expression. But the production process is fueled by a passion for community movement and empowerment. Nafka outsources its production to local handicraft community groups. Handicraft producers, much like other traditional production workers, are marginalized in today’s modern economic distribution routes.

In modern sales systems, the middleman marketing the products can be a necessity. When the producer and consumer are too far apart and there is no access between them, the role of the marketer grows ever larger. The role of the middleman in sales is to dictate the price to maximize profits. The producer has little power to sell at a higher, or more profitable price.

This inequality in the marketing stage is only beneficial to the seller and too often exploits the producer. In Bali, these symptoms have long been visible in the industry, for example in the sales of art or crafts. Art shops in Bali have a very high profit margin, sometimes as high as 60 percent on the handicraft products they sell. By the time they are sold, these handicrafts can be expensive, but the amount the producers receive is too far below the selling price.

The partnerships Nafka builds with local handicraft producers follow fair trade standards. In this way they are supporting sustainability, not only the environmental aspects, but also the social aspects.

It takes hard work to follow the principles of fair trade while also successfully conducting business. To make sure the products are not just salable because they are “fair trade” and pulling on heart strings, but because they are of high quality.

If upcycling has it’s own attraction for consumers, could upcycle product hold special economic value? Anyone can take unused material around them and transform it into something new and useful. So, is there still a market for Nafka products? Here the idea of branding comes into play. A product will not just be valued in a utilitarian perspective or at face-value use. Urban residents want to communicate and declare their individuality in the midst of their lonely disoriented lives. Brands provide this.

Brands become a tool for interaction, a celebration of togetherness, even without having to communicate it. A brand is a message in itself.

From the outskirts of Bandung city, Akanoma is making sure architecture is not only a privilege of the wealthy.

The down-to-earth Akanoma studio is ever connected with the ideals of the architect Yu Sing. He believes everyone should have the right to grow and develop in a house that inspires and is enjoyable. Unfortunately, the majority of the Indonesian public still considers architecture services to be only for those who are wealthy. He believes that the lower and middle class citizens should still be able to work with architects when building their homes. “The role of an architect in shaping a house can influence the different sensations of each room,” says Yu Sung, a fan of the late Yusuf Bilyarta Mangunwijaya, an architect and humanist who is fondly known by the name Romo Mangun.

Yu Sing’s first ambitions to design a house started when he was asked to design a house for a colleague’s uncle. With a budget of less than 60 million rupiah (approximately US$ 6.500), Yu Sing took advantage of reclaimed materials from the old house that was being torn down.

That house, located in Caringin, Bandung, was designed to continually be developed upon so it can be constructed in stages, depending on the finances the owner has available. It is a two-story house, which is useful to conserve land and make sure there is enough green foliage and water absorption around the building. The walls were built with a concrete frame to make it earthquake resistant. Fiber cement was used for the roof, to conserve finances. The roof was also designed to harvest rainwater, which is then directed through a simple filter system so that it can be reused.

Another aspect that makes the house unique is that the left over roof shingles from the old house were used to cover the brick walls of the new house. The random color scheme on the shingles creates interesting visual shapes. “I wanted to help with this design, because even I have difficulty building a house because of limited budget. Since then, I continued helping build inexpensive houses and began writing about them,” he said.

At the end of his book, Yu Sing says that one of his dreams is to design 100 inexpensive houses. “Many people in the lower and middle class really need the support of architects, but do not have the means to access these services. I have made a commitment to help with this,” said Yu Sing.

The published writings on inexpensive housing received an amazing response. “In the first year alone, over 80 families contacted me,” he said.

His potential clients came from all over Indonesia, including as far as Papua and Kalimantan. They would contact Yu Sing via phone and email. “Of the 80 families, I was involved in constructing about 20 of their houses, but not all of them were completed. Sometimes it was because they had used the money allocated for other expenses, so building a house was delayed,” he explained.

To assist in designing these inexpensive houses, Yu Sing charges a service fee of three percent of the total project budget. This price range is applied to all clients building houses with a budget of 250 million rupiah and below. If their budget is higher, they are charged a fee of 5-7 percent, which is the national standard according to the Indonesian Architecture Association.

“Even those who have the money don’t always use an architect, let alone the lower class who are building inexpensive houses.”

The architects at Akanoma studio have another concept to help design an inexpensive house in Dago Giri, Bandung. The new inexpensive house belongs to Uway, a motorbike transport driver. The construction of the new house is projected to only require 27 million rupiah (approximately US$ 3,000). For the design of Uway’s house, Akanoma studio is not charging a service fee. “It is our commitment that for clients with a budget of less than 40 million rupiah, we will create the design for free,” he said.

However, Uway does not have enough money to build this house, and his current house is not suitable to live in anymore. Together with his friends, Yu Sing is gathering donations to help Uway build a small house; the fist floor is only 4 x 6 meters in size.

“We are compiling donations by shopping the design around social networks. So far we have already started receiving some donations. From the total goal of Rp27 million, Uway himself has around Rp10 million, so we only need to collect the remaining cost, which is Rp17 million,” said Yu Sing.

Once all the donations are compiled and the house is built, Uway will return the money through installments. The goal is that once the debt is repaid, it will be used to fund the next inexpensive house project for people in similar financial situations.

Yu Sing feels a sense of satisfaction through assisting people in building houses to match their individual characters. The design of one person’s house is not necessarily right for another person. “A house design should be strong, and suit the context. This needs to be explored so the house is inspiring and enjoyable. An extreme example is that a living space which is too crowded will have an impact on the mentality and thoughts of those living there,” he said.

To spread similar ideas, Yu Sing has formed a network of architects from outside of Bandung. This network can help to fulfill requests for inexpensive houses from people located outside of Bandung. “We now have friends in Jakarta, Depok, Balikpapan, and Semarang who we can collaborate with. Ideally we could have networks in every area, so that the architects can meet with clients, see the location and help oversee the building process,” said Yu Sing.

The network of architects is managed through Internet communication. So that when an architect is available to help design and build an inexpensive house, their work can be easily monitored. “If there is a senior architect who wants to help and for example can take on three houses per year, they can simply let us know through their online status,” he explained.

Yu Sing is optimistic that this concept will work because he believes within each person there is a passion to share. It is this passion that has become his approach in his profession. Staying grounded and having a different approach or being somewhat of an anomaly is an approach which is spreading benefits to other people.

“Love Indonesian Products, If Possible 100%”

This message is written in chalk on a wall on the outside of the kitchen. The folding windows make the kitchen feel like a traditional warung (an Indonesian food stall). The glasses, pots, cutting board, kettle, and an irus, a traditional tool for mixing food from coconut husk, are arranged hanging above.

The warung vibe is even more complete with a long bamboo bench positioned outside the kitchen. Inside, discarded drink crates of yellow and red are arranged as storage space for kitchen spices and food.

The kitchen is located next to the main entrance to Akanoma Studio. Yu Sing Lim (35 years old) along with Benyamin Narkan, Anjar Primasetra, Peter Antonius, Iwan Gunawan, Wilfrid, and Yopie Herdiansyah use a joglo building (a traditional wooden Javanese building) as their main studio space. The joglo has been raised on stilts, similar to traditional house designs in Kalimantan.

The walls of this traditional Javanese building have been modified. As opposed to the wooden walls normally used, they have installed window frames spliced together with colorful chipboard and glass nako. This material is used surrounding the entire joglo.

Inside, the space is open with no separators. Tables are arranged next to each other with computers on top of them. The architects work from this studio in a homey atmosphere. The four pillars inside the joglo multi-function as shelving for books. Old plastic containers, which were used for storing vegetables at the market, have been reclaimed and are used as shelving to store documents.

Bamboo is very visible within the studio design. The plans seem to optimize the flexibility and strength of bamboo. Besides used as floor mats, larger bamboo poles make up the columns of the building.

The use of bamboo is also visible along the walls of rooms towards the back of the studio. There is room to meet with clients, a sleeping area for staff, and guest rooms which are closed with bamboo poles of different sizes positioned both vertically and horizontally, some as small as your finger and others the width of an outstretched adult hand.

Reclaimed used materials can be seen in the bathroom. A combination of used glass bottles and exposed brick wall. Besides functioning as hanging pens, the bottles also reflect natural light into the bathroom.

Yu Sing also uses bamboo for stairs. “It’s cheap and it’s a great alternative,” he said. The right stairway towards the front of the building is enclosed with discarded car windows. The curved windows are clamped in place then tied to bamboo poles using wire. “We needed that area to use transparent materials. It turns out in this village there is a collector of used car windows, so we experimented with them. The cost was quite inexpensive,” says this architect who graduated from Institut Teknologi Bandung.

This two-story building constructed at 700 meters above sea level can be seen towering within the village. The studio itself is built over 650 square meters of land. Far from the city, it is located on Jalan Tipar Timur, Laksana Mekar Village, Padalarang, in West Bandung. The location is closer to the Purbaleunyi toll (Purwakarta-Bandung-Cileunyi) than it is to Bandung city. “This location was chosen because our financing is limited,” explains Yu Sing.

Previously, Yu Sing contracted a house as his studio space. However, the cost of the contract was not cheap. At the same time, Iwan, Akanoma’s drafter, was searching for land and was offered a plot west of Bandung city. “He was looking for land and came across a large plot. So we decided to share it between the three of us and the studio was built using the least expense possible,” says Yu Sing.

The main studio component is the joglo, which on its peak is adorned with two chicken statues from Solo. “We moved the joglo here after purchasing it months ago. We didn’t have enough money to build an office. When we bought the joglo, we didn’t yet have plans to build an office,” explained the author of the book Mimpi Rumah Murah (Dreaming of Inexpensive Housing).

Akanoma studio in a way no represents Yu Sing as an architect. He believes architecture must have roots. For Yu Sing, using a joglo, modified with bamboo, as the main building component represents the current role of architecture in Indonesia.

“I have a dream to create a sustainable city village, to slow the trend of villages being displaced and becoming victims of development. People should have a permanent village where they can live prosperously and comfortably. Our studio is in the village, so we provide a library and social space for the surrounding residents to use,” says Yu Sing, referring to the porch area and public library located underneath his studio.

Unfortunately, Yu Sing explains, the local community has not yet used this social space for their meetings. “If they need it, they are welcome to use the space. What is being used now is the public library, almost every afternoon kids come to read books here. The books in are library are mostly donated,” he said.

Yu Sing has also taken efforts to make sure the building is environmentally friendly. This long-haired architect intentionally extended the roof of the joglo, and attached a number of metal pipes at an angle in a V shape to create a buffer. These metal pipes are connected to the gutters around the roof. They function as a buffer, as well as a rainwater harvesting system by directing rain into a water absorption tank.

Besides being environmentally friendly, Akanoma also makes an effort to produce their own food by planting vegetables around the studio land. “We have planted basil, long beans, eggplant, leunca, chili, cucumber, cassava, cosmos flowers, and more. We also have a pond used to soak bamboo during the preservation stage, which has an additional function as a fishpond. We have already harvested Nila fish for food. Since our studio is quite far away from everything, we usually cook our meals here” he said.

In the era of computer graphics, ancient graphic techniques come as a pleasant surprise.

“What you see is what you get” may not sound that interesting. But the results of these graphic prints can be a happy surprise.

Happiness was the general feeling throughout the wood cut workshop with Jogja’s art collective Taring Padi at Taman 65 in Kesiman, Denpasar, on October 8^th. The workshop participants looked so happy, especially when lifting a woodcut print from their own t-shirt or piece of paper.

Happy surprise was the expression most people displayed when they first saw the results of their woodcut prints. Even though the prints were monochrome created with only black ink. But the the results were not so predictable: One print on two different shirts could be very different, depending on the thickness of the paint upon the woodcut surface. The method of pressing the woodcut upon the medium of cloth or paper also impacted the resulting artwork.

The woodcut leaves an impression on paper or cloth by pressure placed firmly on top of it. In this case, participants tread or jumped on their woodcuts. If  you don’t step long enough, the paint may be too thin or the image unclear because some sections of the media are not pressed as hard as others.

The woodcut leaves an impression on paper or cloth by pressure placed firmly on top of it. In this case, participants tread or jumped on their woodcuts. If  you don’t step long enough, the paint may be too thin or the image unclear because some sections of the media are not pressed as hard as others.

The workshop was opened by M. Yusuf from Taring Padi, who explained why this ancient graphic technique is perfect for creating propaganda media. To make posters using a woodcut, for example, one is able to maximize the number of prints that can be made from a single piece of wood.

Modern reproduction techniques are impersonal and require a relatively large number of printed copies in order to keep the prices reasonable. But with woodcuts, a person’s hand and the wood become the printing machine.

For collective community movements like Taring Padi, this independent reproduction method works well, because they do not need to involve external parties to reproduce their propaganda media, which would be like leaking the information before it is released. “Visually, a wood cut retains the human-touch, and it can be reproduced on all types of media. The size also isn’t limited to the size of a printing machine,” said Yusuf, who goes by the nickname Ucup.

The process of making a wood cut starts by sketching a work of art on a medium-density fiberboard or block board. The art needs to be created as if it is horizontal reflection in a mirror, where right becomes left and left becomes right. After that, the illustration is carved, using small-edged razor blades or woodcut chisels. There are a number of different types of blades which produce different effects when carving the wood surface. The section of wood that is not carved is what will be printed on the artwork medium, and the carved section of wood makes sure that the medium does not touch the paint.

Once the woodcut is carved, paint is poured onto a flat, smooth surface, like a mirror.  Then, the paint is smoothed out using a roller. The roller is then used to apply paint to the woodcut surface. Once the paint is evenly distributed, the woodcut is placed on top of the media in any position you like. The media should be placed on top of a flat surface, such as a flattened, used cardboard box.

When placed on the surface to be printed, the backside of the woodcut should be covered with a piece of used paper to make sure that the medium does not get dirty. Then apply pressure to the wood cut until you think the paint is evenly distributed. Voila! Enjoy the surprise underneath: a work of woodcut art.

Freitag is a statement that makes the wearer feel different.

Strong, unique and authentic are three words that definitely represent Freitag bags. “The visuals are very attractive to the trained eye. Freitag is a happy surprise in this day-to-day world filled with mass-produced and standardized products,” says Windelin Hess (33), a designer who first bought a Freitag bag in 1994.

Freitag distances itself from imitative trends which result from mass production. The phrase “Each bag is unique” isn’t just the Freitag tagline: Freitag offers a unique declaration for the urban person suffering from “a feeling of disorientation and a need to communicate in the center of disconnectedness and individuality of urban life,” according to the authors of Freitag: Individual Recycled Freeway Bags.

The aforementioned book was printed with the same creative enthusiasm: 10,000 unique copies were printed with different covers. This 500-page book is not heavy on the text, but exposes the ecological, economic, and sociocultural motivations of Freitag since its foundation, as well as images of 3,000 Freitag bags and their owners. These are members of the neurotic metropolitan generation, who are surrounded by consumerism but want to look different.

To understand the context of Freitag’s success, you have to understand that Switzerland is a small, wealthy country. This country, which is often shown on post cards with blue lakes and flying geese, has a population of only 360,000, and its per capita income is an staggering US 587,000 dollars. According to the same book, “Swiss people are ready, willing and able to fill the big hole of boredom in their daily lives by shopping.”

Freitag’s success was supported by their smooth arrival into the Swiss underground scene. Freitag became a mandatory accessory for young people going to clubs or rave parties around Europe.

In 1999 Freitag opened a main outlet in Davos, a small city in the heart of Switzerland. Two years later, another store was opened in Hamburg. In 2006, Freitag opened yet another store in Zurich, which got a lot of attention because it was constructing by stacking 17 rusty, shipping containers. With a height of 26 meters, the store became a bonsai skyscraper in the city of Zurich, despite strict regulations of tall buildings.

Freitag products can be purchased online through www.freitag.ch. Since October 2002, Freitag offered a feature called F-cut, which allowed customers to design their own unique bags online. This Flash application presents a range of tarps from which to choose. If you’re not totally satisfied with the ones available, you can come back in a few days to check the new tarps in stock. Customers simply place the bag design on the section of tarp they want to choose. At the factory, the tarp will be cut following the customer’s specifications. Two weeks later, your new, custom-designed bag arrives at your doorstep.

The Top Cat Freitag bag has been added to a design collection at the New York Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), a huge honor coveted by artists the world over (to date no Indonesian artist’s work has been accepted by MOMA).

Since the 1980s, the question of environmental degradation has been a widely discussed topic, and not exclusive to environmental activists. Cries to stop deforestation, environmental pollution, and green house effect have all become popular movements. Terminology such as Eco, Green, and Global Warming are often used when discussing the importance of Reduce – Reuse – Recycle.

Some environmentalists consider recycling to be too expensive and too energy consuming. This is where upcycling provides a great alternative solution by turning useless, discarded material into something useful and new, like what Freitag has done. Anyone can find used, discarded objects and transform them into something newly functional.

If upcycling becomes a new trend, do upcycle products hold special economic value? Freitag’s success suggests as much. And it also suggests some important questions about what consumers want: For example, why would people spend 250 Euro on a bag made from old truck tarp?

It’s not hard to spot the young people in Europe walking around with these colorful bags, displaying a patchwork of fragmented letters and images and made of synthetic materials like thick plastics. These are the Freitag bags.

If the bags look a bit dirty, it’s not because they’re rarely washed. Most likely it’s because these bags are made from the plastic tarps that were once used to cover commercial trucks, accumulating dirt and silt that are difficult to remove during production of the bags. It’s hard to make them look completely clean. But that is what makes Freitag bags special.

It all started when Swiss-born Daniel and Markus talked about wanting to own bags like the ones used by postal delivery people in New York. These bags are practical, waterproof, large, and easy to carry on a bicycle. But these graphic designer brothers felt the price of a courier bag was just too expensive.

One morning in 1993, Markus headed into the industry district on his bicycle. He returned with a few sheets of used truck cargo tarp, which he hauled upstairs to their fifth floor apartment and dumped into the bathtub. Once the tarps were cleaned and dried he spread them out on the floor, between his mattress and a stereo, and he started cutting the tarp into patterns. Old seat belts were used as straps and broken inner bike tires were used to protect the edges of the bag.

A concept was born. They were making quality bags from used material. The materials they chose were waterproof, strong, and available in a variety of colors. The only new materials they utilized were wire, velcro and buckles.

Their new bag production changed their apartment living rapidly: “For weeks our bathtub was filled with dirty water and smelled like old tarps. The apartment was cluttered with various materials, bicycle tires and seatbelts,” recalls Oliver Gemperle, their former flatmate—his tone discontent with the state of their apartment at the time.

Gemperle also mentioned that an industry standard sewing machine had taken over their dining table. The used machine was purchased for US 500 dollars and was the first investment the Freitag brothers made in their new enterprise. And Gemperle was consoled with the gift of two pieces of the first version of Freitag bags. A gray Freitag bag, one of the first designs, is now part of a display at the Zurich Museum for Gestaltung.

These days, the Freitag brothers no longer make bags out of their apartment. They first expanded by opening the retour Gebr in 1995. Then in 1999, the Freitag lab.—a shorthand meant to signify both “laboratory” and “label,” was established. It reportedly grossed US 52 million dollars in 2003 and employed around 40 people fulltime. Freitag also supports 1,760 outsource staff through a manufacturing company which employs people with disabilities. This commitment to humanitarianism, combined with the environmentally thoughtful practice of making new products out of used materials, is what makes the Freitag business special.

In their first year of operation, Freitag only produced 40 bags. By 2007 they were producing 160,000 products a year. Now there are over 40 styles of Freitag bags, including courier bags, DJ bags, laptop bags, iPod cases, backpacks, wallets, shopping bags, purses, punching bags, and even footballs.

Freitag products are available in 350 stores spread out all over the world, including Switzerland, Germany, Austria, England, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Israel, Turkey, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, China and Singapore. In Switzerland, the Freitag signature style is easily spotted as the bike baskets of girls on their way to school.

“Innovative,” “creative,” “niche market,” and other similar terms often used to describe some of the most noteworthy modern production systems definitely apply to this company. Freitag bags are like a shimmer of light in a dark urban market that reveals: “Look, it is possible to make good products, even when most people are limiting their creativity by only following their obligations and investing in stock.”

Years of hardship forced the fishing communities to degrade the reefs of Northwest Bali, in the region of Pemuteran. As the economic crisis and the resulting threat of poverty weighed heavily on the tiny communities, they turned to dynamite and cyanide to produce greater numbers of fish for sale, unaware that these destructive practices would harm and endanger the reef. The small fishing industry competed against fishermen from neighboring Java for their daily share of the market.

When the seas warmed as a result of climate factors, including the impact of El Niño in 1998, the reef, which was already under threat of degradation, began to deteriorate and die. Fifteen years ago it was a place of very little life, and the entire North Coast was threatened by its extinction.

Fortunately, through foresight and scientific exploration, Pemuteran was rescued. Yayasan Karang Lestari (the Sustainable Reef Foundation) created the Pemuteran Artificial Reef project to preserve the marine environment in the region. The Karang Lestari Project was launched in June 2000 through the initiative of Yos Amerta, Dr. Tomas Goreau and Professor Hilbertz. The first protective reef structure was set in place in 2000, and since then, the project has found support from the owner of the Taman Sari Resort. Now the project, supported by teams of divers, designers, and villagers, is blossoming.

The restoration of coral employs a method that allows the reefs to survive and recover from damage in an initiative called the Biorock Process. Electric currents are pulsated through metal frameworks, which encourage limestone to accumulate. This, in turn, encourages coral growth.

Coral reefs built with the Biorock Process are now successfully growing in the Maldives and Papua New Guinea, and the most recent development of this technology has taken the project off the grid and into solar power. The Coral Goddess, the name for the latest project created between Karang Lestari and The Marine Foundation, uses solar panels to harness the energy she needs to pulsate life into the structures that promote coral growth.

The Coral Goddess

The other benefit to the area is the appeal of the Coral Goddess to tourists, who come to visit her in her garden. Positive contributions to the growth of coral in this region include the provision for sustainable tourism or eco-tourism, as well as educational tourism. Recently, a group of thirty young students from the Bali International School visited the Coral Goddess and the Bio Rock Education Centre and met with project coordinators Rani, Celia and Komang. They gained insight into some basic principles of a marine environment and enjoyed the rest of the day in the ocean. Those who chose to swim made their way in snorkels and flippers to visit the Goddess, while the rest took a trip on a glass-bottomed boat. This type of tourism also improves life for the local people of Permuteran, who can take pride in the efforts they have contributed to the Karang Lestari Project and to the future of their coastal home.

The Taman Sari, the Marine Foundation and Karang Lestari welcome visitors to the BioRock and Coral Goddess Gardens and are able to arrange educational talks and multimedia presentations of their work. They also create specially crafted signature structures for individuals and groups that can be placed in the coral gardens to support the growth of even more corals.

With an increase in coral growth, the entire marine environment is improved, as life beneath the sea becomes once more part of the delicate web of balance that is a marine ecosystem. No one life form can out-balance another without stressing the fabric of interdependence. The local villagers now better understand this fact. They have a deeper appreciation for their environment and a strong interest in preserving for themselves and future generations a way of life that cares for the marine environment, whilst farming it in ways that are sustainable and profitable.