Land reclamation plans in the south of Bali have triggered local protest on an unprecedented scale. An ecological plurality combined with diverging understandings of nature, environmental protection and sacredness threaten to tear apart Balinese society. The government and the private sector use a techno-interventionist argument, while activists draw on an environmentalist and human rights repertoire, at the same time increasingly joining hands with religious and adat figures who seek to maintain cosmic balance. An ontological perspective on the protest helps us to understand the intricacies of movement dynamics and enables marginalized people to enter politics on their own terms. However, its exclusionary potential also feeds into xenophobic political campaigns that promote societal segregation.