There are two initiatives from the Nusa Penida islands, Bali, which are currently being tried and have received attention since the Covid-19 pandemic hit, which had put the tourism sector in suspended animation.

• The first is seaweed processing business to increase the economic value of seaweed into various products such as body care products
• Second, groups of young people who are conserving coral reefs to protect their underwater ecosystem are related to diving ecotourism which is superior in Nusa Penida.
• On the other hand, there is the challenge of reducing tourism pressure that has an impact on the environment in the management of the Nusa Penida marine conservation area.

One of the good impacts expected from the management of marine protected areas is the economy and the environment. Residents get economic benefits and environmental sustainability is maintained.

A number of young people in Nusa Penida, Bali, started a business of processing seaweed into a number of skin care products, hence driving increased coral cover on the coast.

The first pilot is from Nusa Lembongan, one of the Nusa Penida archipelago. There is a couple, Ni Luh Putu Wira Astuti, 42 years old and her husband Nyoman Sudiatmika, 41 years old who built the Sandu Care group business. Both received a small business economic innovation award from the Provincial Government of Bali in 2022.

Currently at his house, there are rows of products with attractive packaging such as body and hand liquid soaps with various scents. Its products have been sold in organic retail stores such as Bali Buda and Bali Organik. We are currently collaborating on product development for skin care series, such as day cream, night care, body lotion, and others with companies outside Bali.

This processed seaweed cannot be separated from the story of the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020-2021. At that time, the two of them had just built a villa unit to respond to the booming tourist visits. The power of the pandemic then squashed the plans for money builds from ‘hot money’ or loans. From the internet, both of them learned how to process seaweed into non-food products, and then the team from Udayana University assisted their idea. After that there was also support from the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program-Coral Triangle Initiative (COREMAP-CTI) supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

“Initially it was a trial run with my husband from information on Google, then I was guided by the Udayana University lab to make liquid soap from raw seaweed for more than two years,” explained Astuti at the end of last June. The first product is dish soap and hand soap. There are also foods such as crackers, pudding and straws.

Source: Mongabay.co.id