What does sustainable travel really entail?

Before the very first of Amaya’s bricks had been laid, the terraces we now live on and love had long been abandoned. There was a time when our terraces were agricultural farmland, each layer its own distinct swathe cut into the hillside. Farmers’ work had maximised the amount of available arable land, prevented soil erosion and landslides, and kept water wastage to a minimum.

However, a combination of several factors, including migration from rural spaces to the cities left the terraces deserted. Topsoil, subjected to years of continuous intensive crop farming, had been left exposed and in poor health, in stark contrast to the lush pine trees surrounding the site. What had once been a hillside profuse with crops was now a kingdom of weeds, a microbiome unto its own that resisted the forest’s attempts to reclaim it.

Brochures featuring sustainable travel destinations often emphasise words like “conservation” and “preservation”, and rightly so – their importance cannot be overstated. But Amaya takes the concept a step further. We are not here just to conserve and preserve the forest, but to restore and regenerate it. Reforesting the terraces has long been our top priority. Amaya encompasses 25 acres’ worth of land which we have continued reforesting ever since the birth of our project.

[“We wanted to create a self-sustaining ecosystem of villas, terrace farming, horticulture, water management, and reforestation that would work seamlessly together. In essence, our need was to create a mountain habitat that didn’t displace nature but could enrich and rejuvenate parts of the mountain ecology that was being disrupted by constant growth and development in the region.” ~ Deepak Gupta, Founder of Amaya]

The ecosystem we inhabit is beautiful, but also fragile. The pine forests in the region are under constant threat, and the damage is exacerbated by land which has been overdeveloped. Overdeveloped ground is not conducive to good plant growth. Intensive farming drains the soil of nutrients; as the health of the topsoil dwindles, it becomes unproductive, and fails to adequately replenish its mineral content. But our sustainable, organic farming practices restore nutrition to the soil, encouraging new growth to flourish. The variety of fruits and vegetables we plant and grow for ourselves is essential: like all legume plants, our green peas are excellent nitrogen fixers, and the soil is all the happier for their abundance.

This influx of nitrogen rebalances the natural chemistry of the soil, and in combination with the delicate balance of phosphorus and potassium within our homemade organic compost, the harmony in our labour speaks for itself. Think carrots, crunchy and sweet, taproots nurtured in rich and well-drained soil; or plump, crimson tomatoes, vines sagging low under their weight. We’ve planted a thousand fruit trees that provide us with seasonal fruit for every season of the year. What is not used immediately is always dried, fermented or pickled for future use. Zero-waste, zero-kilometre food – every salad, every chutney, every fruit and every vegetable. Our farm-to-table commitment revolutionises luxury dining, and what cannot be produced at our retreat is cultivated by local farmers in local villages.

Sustainable travel is about becoming a steward of wherever you visit. At Amaya, you become a part of our sustainable way of life, savouring the fruits of our sustainable practices. Stewardship begins with little choices. That little choice to sample the first sip of crisp homemade kombucha on your arrival marks your active participation in the regeneration of our beautiful retreat: fruit grown in our orchard, fermented in our repurposed gaushala, prepared with love by people living and working in their local community, and enjoyed at no carbon cost.

And when you’re relaxing by our pool, or looking out over the treetops in the valleys below, just think: every blissful moment here is restorative, both for you and for the land itself.