ENVIRONMENT
Our environment is precious to us. The owners are independently engaged in environmental projects worldwide. Most recently, Prof Black was asked by the Asia Development Bank to write Guidelines showing how to protect beaches and the coast from erosion using soft solutions in India.
Trees and Aloe Vera
Our forests are being nurtured by our gardeners who have planted over 15,000 trees, and they’re grown from seed in our nursery. We’re slowly changing monoculture of the firewood tree (“Costa”) to a diverse biological garden. The tobacco farmers have been using forest timber to dry the tobacco and de-forestation has been speeding up in Lombok, so we’ve donated 3000 trees to the nearby villages.
Our Aloe Vera farm was developed to demonstrate how to grow valuable crops which are strong enough for the dry season. We use our Aloe Vera for massages, sun treatments and for healing.
Marine Reefs
With financial help from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Planet, we built 22 small reefs in Ekas Bay to help the fish with habitat. Our Facebook page “Ekas Reef Sanctuary in Lombok” describes this project. You can be a friend or a donor to keep this important work going. Under the professorial guidance of Prof Kerry Black and careful selection of the stone for the reef, biological surveys showed a larger number of fish species and greater biodiversity than on the nearby natural reefs.
Monkeys
Our Macaq monkey population has been increasing now that we help them through the dry season with water and better forests. We don’t feed them and they don’t interfere with the guests. They are great fun to watch.
Birds
Unfortunately birds in Indonesia are just a commodity for sale and so all trapping of birds on the property has been stopped and the dawn chorus is now powerful and beautiful. This year we are building special nesting boxes, which cannot be raided by the monkeys for the eggs. You can help by donating a nesting box.
NZ AID
Prof Kerry Black first came to Ekas Bay in 2000 as the leader of a New Zealand Aid project to teach locals cage farming of fish and lobster. There are many cages in the Bay now. His love for the local people and the beautiful environment led to his decision to develop Heaven on the Planet.
Coral bombing
With support from the Military and financial assistance from Heaven on the Planet, the coral bombers have been stopped. They were using dynamite to stun the fish and bring them to the surface. But the bombs blast the corals which may be ruined for decades. We hope the beautiful coral survives for future generations.
Marine Park
The snorkelling reef is one of the best examples of shallow coral anywhere in the world. Large plate corals bigger than the dining room table are at least 400 years old. Coral bombing, use of anchors and rising ocean temperatures can destroy this beautiful reef. Working with government and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), this reef has been zoned for protection. We don’t anchor on the reef when guests are taken on a tour there.
Soil regeneration
Over the decades, the farmers take most of the produce off the land leaving little for soil regeneration and burn the jungle every season. Our gardeners have been educated to leave as much as possible on the soil for natural composting and protection against the sun.
Water collection
To reduce our use of trucks which deliver water, we have built two large dams and a bore. These are successfully providing water to the Sanctuary.
Sustainable building methods
All of our building methods use sustainable materials. Our wood is sourced from sustainable forests, including coconuts. Our beautiful grass rooves are sourced locally and made by the villagers and our red, quartz stone (Star Stone) comes from the nearby fields of Ekas Bay, not from a quarry.
All buildings have timber and coconut frames to make them earthquake proof. This is very rare in Indonesia, especially Bali where the multi-storey concrete buildings are unlikely to survive a severe earthquake.
After a lifetime of scientific research, Prof Black established Heaven on the Planet. “I wanted a sustainable environment, one that remains natural, not like the manicured 4 and 5 star concrete resorts or the endless rows of warungs and small hotels”, he said. “Our goal is to be self-sustaining while providing refuge for animals and birds and a beautiful, natural environment for our guests