Reading the various trip reports about wooden live aboards in Indonesia, I cannot keep myself from wondering: does nobody care about all these trees? Which of the operators of these boats invest in reforesting?
eco friendly live aboards, is there such a thing?
- Thread starter Indah
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Reading the various trip reports about wooden live aboards in Indonesia, I cannot keep myself from wondering: does nobody care about all these trees? Which of the operators of these boats invest in reforesting?
Wookie
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Do you think harvesting trees (a renewable resource) is more damaging than mining, refining, smelting, welding, and casting steel and aluminum? Is the Weda Resort and Divers Lodge made of mud or stone or ??? with a zero carbon footprint? Pot, meet kettle.
mala
Contributor
if its made of wood and has sails then thats about as eco friendley as you can get.
its the guests flying out there thats killing the planet.
its the guests flying out there thats killing the planet.
Bali Diver
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I would not think you will find one,especially as very few invest ( real money ) in protection of reefs/marine life. Ok Ahe resort does deserve a lot of credit.
Also how Indonesia allows logging in Kalimantan and example of a beautiful island in papua destroyed and reefs polluted and destroyed for need to supply wood for the making of the Beijing Olympic village in 2008,does not show good leadership in this department
Darnold9999
Contributor
Seem to recall that most of the infrastructure for Divers Lodge Lembeh - cabins, lodge etc were all made of wood. Then there were the 4 fibreglass boats.
Have to agree with Wookie here - pot meet kettle
I've talked to dive guides who have confided that popular dive areas like Lembeh, not frequented by liveaboards, have suffered negative impacts from too many divers. One wonders if perhaps dive resorts in Lembeh should reduce the number of divers they allow in the water. Any opinion? 
Bali Diver
Contributor
One wonders if perhaps dive resorts in Lembeh should reduce the number of divers they allow in the water. Any opinion?
Reduce divers and reduce profits.I just don't think so
Eco friendly is a pipe dream. There are 7 billion of us, we are going to have a negative impact on our environment no matter how hard we try not to. Reducing our impact is about as good as it gets, and as said a wooden boat with sails is about as good as it gets. Trees actually sequester carbon, so using them and then planting more does have some positive qualities.
Reduce divers and reduce profits.I just don't think so
Thanks, but I was actually interested in Indah's response ...
My post was about the Indonesian forest. Not about saving the planet. Primary forest is not yet a renewable resource for high quality hardwood yet here. Coconut wood is not a real wood and is easy renewable. pity you cannot boats out of it. The "wood" used at Divers Lodge since 2006 is all coconut. Most cottages are stone however. Our older boats we built from plywood with epoxy and our newer boats are fyber glass. The main building material in our recently built Weda Resort is Sago palm. But indeed, we used wood as well. We try to compensate this by buying and protecting 300 hectares primary forest at Halmahera and planting thousands of trees at Lembeh. My point is that a wooden boat, made in Indonesia is the opposite of eco friendly. Even if they have sails (which hardly ever been used). Forest has been destroyed to build it. Owners and guests of these boats maybe could consider what they can do for compensation.
About pot meet kettle: old days and new ways. Many of us who ever tasted shark fin soup would not think about ordering it anymore. Former die hard smokers are no defending non smokers rights, who goes out spearfishing anymore?
---------- Post Merged at 10:58 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:47 AM ----------
Highdersert, Probably everybody agrees that this is a total different discussion. The proven positive impact of dive tourism (money) on reef protection against the negative effects of the interaction between the diver and underwater world. E.g. much improved since moorings have been placed in Lembeh Strait. There was definitely a moment where more divers meant less damaged. But, there is a tipping point. Hard to tell when. How good are these guides trained in monitoring? Any data, or just an impression or telling what they think the guests want to hear?
And then...we still can discuss gloves, long fins, cameras, bubbles versus re breathers. Still, nothing is for me more clear and obvious than an empty field where as primary forest has been before.
About pot meet kettle: old days and new ways. Many of us who ever tasted shark fin soup would not think about ordering it anymore. Former die hard smokers are no defending non smokers rights, who goes out spearfishing anymore?
---------- Post Merged at 10:58 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:47 AM ----------
Highdersert, Probably everybody agrees that this is a total different discussion. The proven positive impact of dive tourism (money) on reef protection against the negative effects of the interaction between the diver and underwater world. E.g. much improved since moorings have been placed in Lembeh Strait. There was definitely a moment where more divers meant less damaged. But, there is a tipping point. Hard to tell when. How good are these guides trained in monitoring? Any data, or just an impression or telling what they think the guests want to hear?
And then...we still can discuss gloves, long fins, cameras, bubbles versus re breathers. Still, nothing is for me more clear and obvious than an empty field where as primary forest has been before.
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