RESERVE
conservation and biodiversity

Embracing the Forest: Amaya’s Commitment to Conservation and Biodiversity

Amaya is a truly special place in the evening twilight. The sun sinks beneath the horizon, the light softly fades, the shadows of the pine trees stretch across the forest floor, and the air fills with the sweet fragrance of evening flowers and Himalayan honeysuckle. It’s the perfect time to take a little walk and witness a thousand little stories unfolding before your eyes.

A hawk-moth, drawn in by the warm golden glow of the marble windows, hovers almost motionless over a native forest wildflower, her wings a silent flutter while she sips its nectar. She soon flies off into the growing darkness, braving vesper bats on the hunt overhead, to scour the forest floor for the endemic Himalayan nettle (Girardinia diversifolia), the perfect plant upon which to lay her eggs. Once hatched, her caterpillars will eat their fill of its distinct large, knobbled leaves, burrow beneath the soil to pupate, and emerge anew, unfurling silvery wings of their own.

On a clear night, the twilight’s quiet is pierced by the song of the blue whistling thrush, who greets the night after a busy afternoon spent hopping along the forest floor, turning over leaves and stones in search of the choicest invertebrates. Then, once darkness has truly set in, the sound of a mellow hoot could even betray to the keen-eyed observer a collared scops owl perched among the branches overhead, his eyes wide in anticipation of the first mouse or beetle unlucky enough to cross his gaze.

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Each of these little stories is a thread in the intricate web of life that takes shape at Amaya every day. They are ancient stories, told and re-told over the centuries throughout the subtropical pine forests that extend along the Himalayan foothills. However, they are at risk of being forgotten. Like many of the planet’s most beautiful and important biomes, these forests are fragile, and their unique biodiversity is under threat from climate change and unsustainable practices.

Since Amaya’s conception, our founding principle is that we are here to embrace the mountain forest, not displace it. This means much more than rudimentary preservation. We are committed to reforesting the hills and terraces not simply in the name of conservation and biodiversity protection, but also because we believe it is by regenerating this environment that we can regenerate your connection to the natural world.

Deforestation, erosion, habitat loss: our continuing mission is and has always been to reverse as much of the damage that has been dealt to this ecosystem as possible. Biodiversity and sustainability go hand in hand, and only with sustainable practices can we maintain and restore the rich array of wildlife that calls this breathtaking corner of the world home. The more Amaya is integrated into this forest – the more coniferous trees we plant, terraces we restore, pollinating vegetable plants we grow – the more we become a safe haven for regional endemic species that would otherwise remain trapped amidst the fragmented sections of their former habitat.

The state bird of Himachal Pradesh is the western tragopan (Tragopan melanocephalus), and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature estimates that currently only 3,300 individuals remain in the wild. These pheasants are mostly situated along small pockets of Himalayan forest whose closest point is some fifty miles to Amaya’s east, but many years ago, its striking black and crimson plumage may well have been a common sight here. They are arboreal by nature, and it is exciting to think that the trees we grow and care for could one day provide cover for a winter foraging ground that will be visited by this stunning bird or any of its several endangered sister species.

The relationship between sustainability and the hospitality industry has long been fraught with tension, and the conflict often seems irreconcilable. We aim to lead by example, and show the world that when you are given the gift of time spent in symbiosis with the space you inhabit – when you become a part of the little stories – you experience luxury without equal.