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The green mantra

The first National Tourism Award for the Best Eco-Friendly Resort has been won by Coconut Lagoon, Kumarakom. Priyadarsshini Sharma finds out more

Environment friendly and biodegradable... these magic words, when put into action, can save the world and give future generations a chance to breathe in fresh air and live in a clean environment. In the hospitality industry, it is the byword, and the race to get it right first has already begun.

Coconut Lagoon, Kumarakom, a cghearth group hotel, has just won the National Tourism Award 2004-05 under the category of Best Eco-Friendly Resort, becoming the first recipient of the just constituted award.

The untiring efforts of the men behind the scene have made this possible for the hotel, the State and for Kerala Tourism at large. Says proprietor Jose Dominic, "Being eco-friendly and responsive towards the community are our core values. That anything and everything we do should answer these values. This is our constant endeavour." The group will receive the award later this year.

What are the features of this backwater resort that make it distinct?

"The steps taken at Coconut Lagoon — from designing the rooms, water management and the butterfly garden to the Vechur cow project, organic farms and more. They are the key components. Travellers today look for ecologically sensitive practices," says Dominic, explaining that the definition of a hotel room with a view has undergone a sea change.

"If guests spot filth or see smoke spewing, they feel the room is ugly. And that means the hotel is not being run in a `responsible' way. Travellers are making definitive choices now."

Nature's role

So from architecture of the property, the reassembling of tharavadus in accordance with the thachu shastra, using the ancient rules of carpentry to the use of natural and local material for construction and lime wash for walls, the structures are natural, with Nature playing a pivotal role.

Talking about this accent on natural settings, Dominic says, "When in 1988, we started our first venture in Bangaram, Lakshadweep, the unique offering there was Nature. "

And it is Nature all the way at Coconut Lagoon too. At the Butterfly Garden, you can spot 70 species of butterflies, 50 types of dragonflies and damselflies.

The Vechur cow conservation project, an effort to rehabilitate this endemic species, the organic farm where hybrid varieties of rice are cultivated, planting of mangrove saplings, fish sanctuary, `petty' and `para' which is a traditional way of pumping out water from the paddy fields (the system is used to circulate water in the canals that run through the 22 acres of the resort)... every aspect is environmentally friendly.

Says P. Subrahmanian, general manager, Coconut Lagoon, "All this will come to naught if the staff is not in sync with the philosophy. So we have constant upgradation and training programmes for the staff. We have three naturalists who maintain the flora and fauna and the Nature club, `Egret'. Ornithologist Sreekumar, who's the president of the Kottayam Nature Society, educates guests about the birds.

Rainwater harvesting, vermi-compost, biogas and reverse osmosis processes are other environmental friendly projects practised in the hotel.

In fact, this concept has influenced the entire locality, so much so that the rice shop near the hotel's jetty has started using recycled paper bags to deliver goods.

Back to nature

But the real change seen as far as the `back to Nature' concept is concerned is the way a holiday is now being defined and perceived.

"For us, a holiday is not an escape but a fulfilment and in that sense, it becomes a pilgrimage: a physical, spiritual and emotional experience. These intangibles are what really make for a holiday here," says Dominic.

And for the group that has pioneered this eco-friendly concept, the dividend is the Best Eco-Friendly Resort award. And now, a holiday, a trip, an outing, is elevated to a pristine experience. As Dominic quotes William Blake: "To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower...

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour... "

Imagine the experience while you wait for the traffic lights to change.

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