About Us
Uravu Eco Links Ltd.
Uravu Eco Links Ltd. works in the areas of sustainable construction, bamboo trading, construction workshops and eco-friendly community tourism. Eco-friendliness, community involvement and innovative design are the basis of all our activities.
Uravu Eco Links Ltd. is a public limited company that was incorporated in 2004 under the Companies Act of 1956 by the trustees of the charitable trust Uravu Science and Technology Study Centre (Uravu). The main objective was to operate as the marketing and implementation agency for bamboo products produced by local artisans and other activities of the charitable trust Uravu, by managing the business of manufacturing and trading eco-friendly agricultural products and handicrafts made of bamboo and other natural materials.
Today we focus on eco-friendly construction with bamboo and other sustainable materials. The constructions range from cost-effective housing projects to structures for elegant tourism ventures. We strive for excellence and high-quality craftsmanship combined with functional design. Uravu Eco Links Ltd. also trades in raw and treated bamboo. We offer workshops on eco-friendly construction with bamboo for architecture and design students as well as other interested individuals.
Furthermore, we promote eco-friendly community tourism ventures in Kerala, mainly in the village of Thrikkaipetta in Wayanad, where we are based. Besides managing the Uravu Bamboo Grove Resort – our eco-friendly community tourism project, which was began in 2015 – we support the Uravu Bamboo Village Homestays in Thrikkaipetta.
Uravu Eco Links Ltd.’s vision is to achieve a sustainable business model where nature, creativity and people are united in a cooperative enterprise, supported by the continuous pursuit of excellence.
Our mission is to achieve a sustainable model of development in a collaborative mode, which is financially viable and based on eco-friendly principles and innovativeness. Our model of development benefits local communities by enhancing and utilising the resources in an innovative manner, promoting the well-being of the people involved and their surroundings.
Uravu Bamboo Grove Resort
The Uravu Bamboo Grove Resort is an eco-friendly community tourism project situated in Thrikkaipetta, the Uravu Bamboo Village. Surrounded by rice fields and coffee plantations, the tranquil Uravu Bamboo Grove Resort is encircled by a pond and a bamboo grove.
The main objective of the Uravu Eco Links tourism project was first to develop and then to run a sustainable, eco-friendly tourism venture that both involves and benefits the local community. The villagers play a role in the project, which features innovative building designs based on environmental standards, using locally sourced materials, and which make use of the ideas of local artisans. These designs have made use of local knowledge of sustainable construction and an enthusiastic team of international and local experts in the areas of architecture and design, engineering, innovative water and energy management, tourism, and craft.
The Uravu Bamboo Grove Resort project is based on three objectives.
The first is community involvement. We strive to include people from the village in assisting with the resort activities. For example, the food for our guests is cooked by families from the community. The local people are also involved in various activities that the Uravu Bamboo Grove Resort offers for its guests, such as a village tour with a local guide, a birdwatching tour, painting classes with local artists and much more. The tourists can also stay in a homestay and live with a local family for a few days.
The second objective is eco-friendliness, which means that the whole resort has been built and is managed in a sustainable way. We use a bio-mass water heating system. The principle Reduce-Reuse-Recycle is very important to us and we operate a segregated waste management system. Ensuring and maintaining a rich biodiversity is essential: we have therefore planted a variety of bamboo species and other plants in the resort and turned this old quarry into an enchanting natural place.
The third objective is innovative design, which means that all the cottages and the multifunctional restaurant, which is currently under construction, are built with locally available bamboo and other locally sourced materials.
Therefore, the Uravu Bamboo Grove Resort is more than just an ordinary resort. The aim is to involve all of the different communities of Thrikkaipetta so that as many people as possible can benefit from tourism in a fair and ethical way. The Uravu Bamboo Grove Resort also aims to develop working models, which can be adopted by the community (e.g. sustainable construction, waste management…)
You can learn more about the project and book your stay at the resort by visiting its website: www.uravubamboogrove.com
Uravu
Uravu Indigenous Science and Technology Study Centre (Uravu) is a not-for-profit bamboo-based development organisation that strives for rural empowerment through sustainable solutions. Established in 1996, Uravu works with people, governments, and businesses to facilitate initiatives with the primary motive of sustainable development and implements focused end-to-end programmes in the bamboo sector. Uravu runs a bamboo products-based livelihood support programme for the rural poor, bamboo plantation-based ecological restoration programmes and bamboo skills development trainings, courses, and workshops.
Uravu also promotes bamboo handicrafts in order to generate employment and income for women living in rural areas. Uravu’s Common Facilities Centre provides backward and forward linkages to the Micro Enterprises in the Kalpetta Bamboo Cluster. Uravu also runs a Bamboo Nursery where it grows planting materials of more than 50 species of bamboos and conducts bamboo-planting programmes.
The ‘Uravu network’ consists of the Uravu Indigenous Science and Technology Study Centre, a non-profit trust; Uravu Eco Links Ltd.; the Kalpetta Bamboo Cluster Producers’ Association, a society of artisans in the Kalpetta Bamboo Cluster; and the Uravu Bamboo Village, a community collective in Thrikkaipetta village.
For more information about Uravu, check their website: www.uravu.in