Christmas Island

Conservation

Isolated in the Indian Ocean 400 kilometres south of Jakarta is an Australian territory. 90% of the island is national park. For over 1,000 years flotsam and jetsam have transported life to this remote island creating a unique bio-diversity.

Today the same Southern Equatorial currents dump the world's debris on two tiny coves - Greta Beach and Dolly Beach on the East Coast. Whilst there is no indigenous population a small population of predominantly Chinese, Malaysian origins have settled the island for over five generations. It is their stories and beliefs that give meaning to the island and the marine life that encircles it. Motivated by concerns for nesting turtles community volunteers remove 1.5 tonnes of rubbish from these remote sites twice a year.

Lin Gapp tells about the Greta Beach Clean up. 'Our story is about the survival of the turtles. Once we saw some turtles out at Greta Beach struggling through all of the marine debris trying to dig nests. Most of the rubbish here is from Indonesia, the highest volume things are thongs toothbrushes and small plastic toys. The community thought there was something they could do about it and began beach clean ups in April and September just before and after the wet season. Each time over 1.5 tonnes of rubbish is carried up the cliffs by hand.

I spend quite a bit of time on Greta Beach just monitoring the accumulation of rubbish, recording what comes up. Many curious objects have washed ashore -a child’s school bag from Tasik Malaya, a hat from the presidential security forces, light globes, and the head of a Wayang Golek puppet. (Some people say it was Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu, who comes when the earth is in need of help.)

Once I found a beautiful section of wood that looked as if it could have been hand carved, I thought maybe it was from a boat or a piece of furniture. It was a strip of wood with rounded ends and some kind of carving like a wave or like leaves. About 3 days later I was at the beach and I found another piece that looked very familiar. I took it home and I found that they were part of the same bit of wood that had been separated. When I joined them together I found the pattern actually flowed and it was like a floral design. I think its amazing that on different parts of the beach, on different days I found the two halves. I had an idea that if we were ever able to make contact with a village in Indonesia we could talk about the debris and maybe end up doing some art exchange. Perhaps we could hold a ceremony presenting them with one piece of the carving as a symbol of what we could do together to solve the problem of the rubbish.

Konservasi

Selama beribu2 tahun, arus laut telah membawa kehidupan ke pulau terpencil ini, menciptakan keanekaragaman alam yang unik. Sekarang ini, arusnya membawa sampah dari seluruh dunia ke dua teluk kecil di pantai timur Pulau Krismas.

Walaupun tidak ada penduduk asli, lima keturunan pendatang suku Cina dan Melayu sudah menghuni pulau ini. Adat dan cerita merekalah yang memberikan keberartian ke pulaunya dan kehidupan laut yang mengelilinginya.

Didorong oleh keprihatinan terhadap penyu laut yang mencoba menggali sarang, sukarelawan dari masyarakat setempat mengangkat 1.5 tonne sampah dari pantainya dua kali setahun.

Lin Gapp menceritakan Proyek Pembersihan Pantai Greta. Keinginan kami ialah supaya penyu bisa bertahan hidup. Saya menghabiskan banyak waktu di Pantai Greta, memeriksa sampah di sana. Suatu kali pada waktu bulan purnama kami melihat beberapa ekor penyu bersusah payah mencoba menggali sarang di pasir di tengah tumpukan sampah. Masyarakat di sini berkehendak memecahkan masalah ini, maka dari itu mulailah program pembersihan pantai. Setiap bulan April dan September sebelum dan sesudah musim hujan, lebih dari 1.5 tonne sampah diangkat dan dipikul ke atas tebing. Kebanyakan sampah yang sampai di sini berasal dari Indonesia. Yang paling banyak ditemukan ialah sandal jepit, sikat gigi, dan mainan plastik kecil.

Banyak benda yang aneh juga terdampar di pantai, misalnya sebuah tas sekolah dari Tasik Malaya, sebuah topi Paspampres, bola lampu, dan bahkan kepala wayang golek. Konon kabarnya itu kepala Kresna, salah satu jelmaan Visnu, yang muncul kalau bumi kita perlu ditolong.

Suatu kali, saya menemukan ukiran kayu yang sangat bagus. Bentuknya panjang dengan ujungnya dibulatkan, diukir dengan gambar ombak atau bunga. Kira2 tiga hari kemudian, di pantai, saya menemukan sepotong kayu lagi yang kelihatan hampir sama. Ternyata bahwa kedua kayu itu merupakan sebuah potong yang telah dibelah dua. Setelah digabung,
polanya cocok sekali, seperti gambar bunga. Itu menakjubkan bahwa pada dua hari yang lain, di bagian pantai yang lain, saya menemukan kedua belah kayu itu. Saya mendapat gagasan kalau seandainya kami bisa berhubungan dengan sebuah desa di Indonesia, kita bisa membicarakan soal sampah itu, dan mungkin bisa saling menukar karya seni. Kita bisa mengadakan upacara pemberian separoh ukiran kayu itu sebagai simbol upaya kerjasama untuk mengatasi masalah sampah ini.