Cover Story

The conservationists

Many a hospitality player is adopting the ecology-friendly ethos but amidst this rising number are a few who take conservation to a whole new level. By Gayatri Vijaykumar

Log hut at the River Tern Lodge

There are a few who will play to the gallery. And then there are those who will take the path less travelled in order to focus on something they seriously believe in - conserving the environment, for instance. For them, it goes beyond the call of earning profits. They're called the ecology warriors.

Often small establishments, these conservationists not only preach but also practice, applying eco-friendly practices in their work system and involving the local community to ensure that they are benefited in multiple ways. Enter the eco-resort.

The way of the wild

With 22 national parks, the state of Karnataka is at the forefront of conservation. The Kabini River Lodge, a property of The Jungle Lodges & Resorts, which is a state undertaking with 13 properties across Karnataka, has been rated as one of the top five wildlife resorts in the world by the British Tatler's Travel Guide.

According to Hari Kumar Jha, IFS, executive director of Jungle Lodges & Resorts, all its camps have naturalists who have in-depth knowledge about the flora and fauna of the region. This helps in educating tourists about the need for conservation of wildlife and in turn promotes tourism. Though the main motive behind the maintenance of wildlife and national parks remains conservation, Jha feels that the concept of wildlife tourism is catching up now. "Resorts like ours step in to maintain the balance between conservation and eco-tourism. Wildlife resorts play an important role here because they bring in people to experience wildlife and the need for conserving it is accentuated when the person sees a tiger or an elephant," explains Jha.

Keeping conservation as their central theme, some resorts advocate luxury while giving guests a chance to view wildlife closely. Wilderness Resorts, which runs Cicada Resort at Kabini, Karnataka, offers just this. Speaking about evolution of Cicada as a concept, Tiger Ramesh, CEO of Wilderness Resorts, says, "India lacks a chain of focused resorts in the eco-tourism space. In Africa one can find many such chains."

Fringe Ford is another small property nestled in the Wayanad ranges in Kerala. Speaking about its conception, Santosh Kumar, its director (Operations), says, "It took us four years to just get the concept right. When Ahmed's father bought the property 18 years ago, it was a run-down estate. Over the years, the forest took over almost every bit of the estate. It is a joy to see the entire place grow into a forest again. When the thought of setting up a resort came about, the only fear in our minds was the impact to the land, its fauna and the energy of the place. We decided to just renovate the existing structures without putting up any new infrastructure."

The eco fad

But not all eco-resorts are set up amidst wildlife. There are a few who put up their properties a little away from the cities. Situated nearly 40 kilometers away from Bangalore is Our Native Village, built on a farmland. C B Ramkumar, founder and managing director, Our Native Village, narrates the story of the birth of what he calls "the first 100 per cent eco-resort". "Being in advertising for over two decades, I understood the pitfalls of developing me-too products and the global movement towards sustainability. So what was meant to be a six-cottage small operation behind my farmhouse grew to be the first 100 per cent eco-resort ever built. After we hit upon the idea of going 100 per cent eco-friendly, we decided to push the boundaries and venture into areas that no one had ever explored and the fully natural swimming pool was one of them," he explains.

Going eco-friendly has become a fad. But do all resorts claiming to be under the green banner operate responsibly? Kumar argues, "How can you call a fishing camp an eco-resort when it is burning 120 liters of diesel a day to supply power to its tents and air-conditioned cottages and its waste disposed off into the forest and river? And this resort wins the eco-tourism award of the year!"

Ramkumar agrees and adds, "When we talk of eco-resorts and eco-technologies, we are talking of sustainable technologies that do not depend on non-renewable energy, and are based on the ethos of sustainability and not engineering efficiency. With these kind of standards, soon all resorts and hotels that boast of being 'eco-friendly' should start to show some responsibility and clean up their act. The days when the guests were unaware of these issues are over."

Terming a resort 'eco friendly' would be inaccurate if it did not benefit the local community. Hence community involvement has become an important aspect and most resorts which follow eco-friendly practices in its true sense have incorporated various measures to help the community it is a part of. In most cases, this involves ensuring that resort owners employ manpower from the community. Jha emphasises, "Approximately 90 per cent of the employees at The Jungle Lodges & Resorts are from the locality. Hence most of what we earn goes back to the neighbourhood."

Procuring local produce also helps. "Besides directly employing them we also procure milk, dairy products, eggs, vegetables, etc from the local community," explains Ramesh. The resorts are also actively involved in promoting local food and crafts. All the pottery at Our Native Village has been done by village potters and all paintings in its rooms are done by rural artists from all over India."

Struggle for sustainability

With chain resorts and big brands mushrooming throughout the country, eco-resorts and small chains have to ensure that the product they offer stands out despite not having the financial backing. Ramkumar explains that in the short term, it is very expensive to run a sole eco-resort and the capital expenditure on some of the technologies may not seem 'financially feasible' to most accountants, as they are used to regular resorts only.

However, in the long run they will be lucrative. "This is a double-edged sword. If you claim you are eco-friendly, be prepared for some serious scrutiny by guests. If you pass this, then you will be immensely lucrative. But if you try to change the concept, then you will fall on your face. If it is a family-run unit or with single owner or a community-owned unit, it is definitely sustainable provided hospitality standards of service and food are not compromised," he explains.

It is also about offering a product which is unique. Our Native Village has taken innovation a step further by offering guests bullock cart rides and is the only resort which provides a bullock cart license! Being an eco-resort is all about giving back to the community. Hence it is impossible to set up a resort in isolation. "Running an eco-resort is a commitment to practice environment-safe customs. It is lucrative in terms of satisfaction, commitment, belief, conservation and achievement. You cannot pocket all the profit and call yourself an eco-resort," Kumar says.

Operating a single eco-resort has its benefits too. It gives its owners the flexibility to do things the way they want. "If we see a new technology or a new idea, we can implement it immediately. We are open to experimentation and are like a huge lab to some of the scientists in India who we are working with. We also have the ability to question everything that the regular chains have been doing for years," asserts Ramkumar.

What remains to be seen is whether the entry of a large number of players in this sector dilutes the entire ethos of conservation and sustainability. But as awareness about eco-friendly practices grows, guests will begin to expect certain standard of service. Because it is no longer easy to fool guests with just CFL bulbs and 'use your towels again' notices.