Luring investors for an eco discovery trip

Luring investors for an eco discovery trip

THE Western Ghats, one of the 18 prime bio-diverse regions in the world, covers about 16 million hectares.

Of this, only about three million hectares of forest remains absolutely pristine. The fact is that about 11 million hectares of the world's tropical forests are being destroyed every year.

Against this backdrop, Bangalore-based Biodiversity Conservation India Ltd (BCIL) has initiated a rainforest protection programme in Coorg.

Says Mr Hariharan Chandrashekar, Director, BCIL, "We started the Coorg consortium for conservation under the larger canopy of BCIL to work in the fragile habitats of the Western Ghats."

Mr Hariharan's blueprint for Coorg looks something like this: The consortium has bought a 35-acre rainforest patch on the fringes of the largest natural catchment area - the Bhagamandala watershed - in the region.

Called the `Little Acre', the eco-region is looking at economic investment from 40 like-minded individuals. In return, the members are offered chalets overlooking the Ghats and built with locally available material. Says Mr Hariharan, "The retreat will also offer two conferencing venues, a library with travel books, a restaurant offering local cuisine and a traditional health spa." And all of this will not occupy more than five acres of the eco-region and will not disturb the existing foliage, he assures.

The chalets come in three sizes: 500 sq ft built on 3,000 sq ft of land, 600 sq ft built on 4,000 sq ft of land and 700 sq ft built on 5,000 sq ft of land. The chalets are priced in the range of Rs 15 lakh to Rs 19.5 lakh.

Apart from the usual tourist lures like fishing, hunting, local folk rituals, etc, Little Acre will aim to educate the guest in drawing up conservation priorities. "And when the guests are not on an ecological discovery trip, they have the option of leasing it back to us. We will rent it out to others and pay the owners their share of the rent."

Currently, four chalets are ready for occupation in the eco-region and Mr Hariharan hopes to have all his 40 members enrolled by the end of this year.

BCIL has worked in the areas of sustainable energy generation, reviving traditional building technologies, establishing a school for environics in the Himalayas and establishing self-sustaining neighbourhoods. Its two sustainable residential enclaves — Trans Indus and Towns End — are already home to many Bangaloreans who are on an ecological discovery.