BALI — Indonesia. Wayan Wardika used to see “clouds of fireflies” as a child growing up among the rice fields of Bali, Indonesia. But 40 years later, he realized that the fireflies in his village had all but disappeared.
Fireflies in Southeast Asia are vanishing due to habitat loss, light pollution, pesticide use, and climate change—and the same is happening in rapidly developing Bali.
Which is a loss for us all, as fireflies are both ecologically and culturally significant.
In 2020, Wayan decided to bring the fireflies back, by launching Indonesia’s only firefly conservation initiative called Bring Back the Light. He and his small team of scientists focuses on breeding fireflies to return to the wild.
But through this work, Wayan has also gathered the importance of habitat protection – only by doing so will firefly numbers be able to grow sustainably. He is now focused on encouraging neighboring farmers to ditch the chemicals and go organic, in order to boost firefly numbers.
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Banner image: Firefly over the Bali landscape, collage. ©Rizky Maulana Yanuar
Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.
These little fireflies have a big task.
They’re being released back into the wild.
A small act that can have a huge impact
on the island of Bali and its people.
Meet Wayan. He’s a big fan of fireflies. When
I was little, we didn’t have electricity.
I remember seeing clouds of fireflies. I normally
collected the fireflies and used them as lights.
But 40 years later, Wayan realized that the
fireflies in his village had all but disappeared.
These bugs glow in the dark to attract mates and
to ward off predators. But as Bali continues to
develop, they’re losing the night. Too much
light it’s disturbing their communications.
Villages and rice fields are taking over
the forests and streams where they breed.
And the chemical fertilizers and pesticides
used by farmers degrade their habitat.
At least four species in Southeast Asia are
close to extinction, which is bad news. Fireflies
pollinate local plants and crops. Some species
even feed on snails that destroy rice plants,
acting as natural pest control. So, I’m trying
to bring back the population. In 2020, Wayan
set up Bring Back the Light, Indonesia’s only
firefly conservation program, on his family farm.
Along with three other scientists, Cindy
looks after the fireflies from egg to adult.
Firefly eggs take just a few weeks to hatch into
larva. The larva feed and grow for up to 2 years,
then develop into pupae. These transform
within a couple of weeks into an adult firefly,
which feeds and mates for just 3 weeks
before it dies. It’s painstaking work.
Once the fireflies lay their eggs, the scientists
first find and count them, look after the larva,
nurture the pupae,
and release the adults.
Not much is known about fireflies and
their breeding process in Indonesia.
So, Wayan’s team is breaking new ground. They
have released close to 20,000 larva and adults,
and local firefly populations are gradually
improving. It’s a slow increase. As we grow
our knowledge, we able to contribute more
into fireflies repopulation program. But,
there’s one problem. Fireflies are highly
sensitive to their environment. If the air,
water, and soil aren’t healthy, they
don’t survive. If we don’t see fireflies,
there is something wrong with the ecosystem. So,
4 years ago, Wayan dreamt bigger. My goal now is
not only to protect and save the fireflies, but
also regenerate the ecosystem. And it all starts
with cow poop. We are at the holy white cow
conservation, where we collect the manure.
Wayan treats this poop into compost. It’s
an alternative to chemical fertilizers,
one of the main threats to
fireflies and their ecosystem.
We used to choose cow dung to make
fertilizer because it already has earthworm,
millions of microorganism that lives and that’s
where the plants need. Our main goal is actually
to regenerate the soil so that the plants has all
the minerals, the nutrition that they require.
And that’s not all.
So right now we are making eco enzyme. To replace
synthetic pesticides, Wayan concocts a formula
that deters pests while providing nutrients
for crops and soil. It’s made from food waste.
So we collect the rejected fruit from the local
markets and then use them as a eco enzyme.
This is our organic farm. This is where we show
our crops. We must lead by example so we must
grow our own farm when other farmers ready
to follow, we don’t need to convince them.
As soil quality improves, crops grow healthier
and can sell for more. Profits go up. Eventually,
both farmers and fireflies benefit. Wayan aims to
convince the other 35 farmers in this area to go
organic, thereby ensuring a pesticide-free zone
for fireflies. But changing human behavior is now
one of his biggest challenges. This transition is
not easy, especially when we work with farmers.
Wayan distributes his organic fertilizer and
pesticides to farmers for free. He also pays
the farmers back for any losses incurred
during the transition away from chemicals.
What I’m trying to do is to
create a circular ecosystem
where we provide all the materials that the
farmers need for growing crops. Wayan funds
this effort with revenue from firefly conservation
tours and selling organic produce from his farm.
The ecotourism is to support the project
and then also to support the farmers.
Four farmers are involved in the scheme
right now. Pak Nyoman is one of them.
First I was trying to touch their hearts. So
now I’m reverse. I have to fill up the pockets,
then we change the hearts.
In the beginning it was my personal
journey to see fireflies again.
But Wayan’s mission has since rippled outwards to
his community and to the natural world we live in.
We human don’t live alone on this earth.
We maintain the sustainability of nature,
not just for our generation,
but for our future generation.
Not just for our kind, but also
for the other biodiversity.
