New Bali ban set to have major impact on Australian holidaymakers: What you need to know

Ban on Bali farmland developments It follows deadly floods in September A ban on new tourism developments on Bali's farmland may reshape...

• Ban on Bali farmland developments
• It follows deadly floods in September

A ban on new tourism developments on Bali's farmland may reshape the holiday experience for millions of Australian visitors in the wake of deadly floods. 

The disaster earlier this month killed at least 18 people, with flood waters inundating and destroying homes, villas and shops across large swathes of the island.  

Mud, rocks and trees tumbled onto mountainside hamlets, while rising rivers submerged at least 112 neighbourhoods and triggered several landslides.

Officials blame rapid construction of hotels and resorts for worsening flood risks by reducing drainage and destroying natural buffers, a sentiment echoed by locals.

Each year, about 1,000 hectares of rice paddies and green space are lost, with serious damage to the island's centuries-old Subak irrigation system.

But on Sunday Bali’s governor declared that the island will put a stop to new tourist developments on farmland. 

'This year there will be no more converting productive farmland into commercial purposes,' Governor Wayan Koster said

'We will ensure that no new permits are issued for hotels, restaurants, or other facilities on rice paddies and productive land. Instructions have been issued to regents and mayors throughout Bali.'

The decision comes as Bali prepares to break tourism records in 2025, with 6.5million foreign visitors expected – including two million Australians. 

On average, between 21,000 and 22,000 tourists arrive daily.

But Bali's tourism boom has placed pressure on farmland, jeopardising the Subak irrigation network recognised by UNESCO.

Heavy seasonal rain from about September to March frequently causes flooding and landslides in Indonesia. 

But rice fields and forests act as natural sponges, absorbing rainwater and reducing runoff into rivers, helping prevent floods.

'This massive development has caused rapid agricultural land conversion,' Walhi Bali executive director Made Krisna Dinata told ABC News.

'This flooding that we recently experienced, in such a large scale, directly hit the heart of Denpasar and caused chaos.

'There is so much tourist accommodation being built, and according to our records, much of it is built by violating coastal zones, river zones and often these developments are located in disaster-prone areas.'

The government's shutdown of Suwung, Bali's only landfill, was condemned by locals, who claimed it pushed waste into rivers and worsened the floods and the aftermath. 

Balinese influencer 'northsidestory' said: 'No one can stop disaster but at least we should stop throwing trash in our nature, keep our nature clean, save our nature.' 

'This place is called the 'last paradise', I hope it's not going to be called the 'lost paradise' – the paradise that lost the beauty,' he continued.

Many agreed, jumping into the comment section to highlight visitors' poor treatment of the environment.

'I've been around Bali for three years. So many uneducated [people] by throwing garbage in the river,' one person wrote.

'When the rain came, the river and the gut became clogged and the water rose to the street.' 

Another said: 'Wayyyy too much construction. True. So sad to see Bali has been invading like this. Hopefully waste management will be better from now on.'

A third added: 'It's karma in a way. Why people keep building and pouring concrete everywhere? No more trees. No more green areas.'

The Badung chapter of Indonesia's Hotel and Restaurant Association has also expressed its support for the moratorium of construction of tourism developments.

'It's an important step to maintain the balance between development and environmental preservation,' the association's I Gusti Agung Ngurah Rai Suryawijaya told ABC News.

'In the short-term the moratorium may limit the growth of new hotels, or villas, but in the long run this is very positive to preserve Bali's environmental qualities.'

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