Minimising our negative impact on the culturally and ecologically sensitive areas where we work is a central tenet of Shakti’s philosophy.

As well as making a direct contribution ourselves, we encourage our guests to adhere to our written Code of Conduct.

 We believe that, in this way, we can all support each other in securing the future of these sublime regions and their inhabitants.


Some of the ways in which Shakti contributes to the local people and the environment are:

Employment
 We have hired most of our staff locally and have trained them in various fields of hospitality. Also, we have tried to bring the local cultures to visitors as they exist, thereby generating direct income to the villagers without compromising their lifestyle and way of living. This means they do not need to resort to high volume, high impact tourism that degrades their environment and way of life.

Buildings & Infrastructure
According to the location, we either commission new buildings that leave only the lightest footprint on their setting or we breathe new life into existing, traditional village houses.

Electricity Generation
 We use sustainable sources (principally solar) to provide 100 percent of our electricity supply, excepting our office space which runs off mainline power.

Rainwater harvesting
 We have set up a rain water harvesting project for a widow in one of the villages – this is being replicated with various villagers in the areas we operate. Since we work with the villagers on these projects, they are then able to learn and have taken the initiative to develop more projects.

Village Development Fund
In order to respect local customs, we ask any guests who may wish to offer gifts or money, to do so through this fund. 100% of guest contributions received in this way will go to the intended recipients, through this more socially acceptable channel.

The implementation of our projects is supported by our tie-up with The Leap – a voluntary organisation based in the UK, which sends volunteers for 6 or 10 week placements, to work with us on our community and environmental missions.

Support of local cultures and skills
 We have helped set up and support a local dance group of traditional Kumaoni dancers. We include a performance in all our trips and this has helped to sustain their skill, as well as train younger members.

We incorporated local building techniques and styles for our mountain camp, 360 Leti. The “dry-stack stone wall” is the traditional method of construction in the area - we have revived these skilled techniques practiced by few specialist families in the area, by incorporating them into the construction of our camp.

Controlled social impact
Each of our operations is on a very small scale – and while that limits the number of guests we can receive, we prefer it that way, so we don’t impose ourselves too much on our surroundings.