The Guest House, Mothakkara

Mothakkara, Kerala

VTE Organisations

There are two community organisations at Mothakkara:
Banasura Integrated Rural Development Society (BIRDS), registered in early 2013.
The Tourism Sub-committee of BIRDS, established in early 2013 as a SHG (Bansura Soyam Sahaiya Sangam - BSSS).

BIRDS

This is the main organisation, responsible for tourism, marketing/shop, agriculture, animal husbandry, women’s welfare, Tribal development, education and culture within the village. With the Panchayat Ward member (Anil Kumar) as Chairman, the society maintains good links with the elected local government system, providing advisory, monitoring and Panchayat linking support to its sub-committees, such as the tourism sub-committee. BSSS. The BIRDS has 19 members, including Anil Kumar as Chairman (Panchayat Ward member), Sujesh as Secretary, Mohanan (Treasurer) and members who include Sugaathan (Head Teacher), two ladies and one Scheduled Tribe (Paniya) member.
BSSS.
This tourism sub-committee of BIRDS was established and registered in early 2013 as a Self-help Group (SHG). This committee, known as the Bansura Soyam Sahaiya Sangam (BSSS), owns and manages the Village Ways guesthouse. The committee meets monthly to supervise the running of the village tourism enterprise. It has considerable autonomy but reports to the BIRDS for advise, monitoring and linking.
Initially, the BSSS was responsible for construction of the house, receiving a 40% grant and a 60% loan from Village Ways. The loan is being repaid over 30 years by 10% deductions from guest night invoices. The BSSS pays 13% of guest night income to Shivan, the landlord, as ground rent and to compensate for loss of income from rubber trees that were felled to build the house. The BSSS also contributes Rs 150 per group to BIRDS for wider village development activities. Initially, tips are being used for improving the guesthouse facilities.
The committee has 11 members, representing a wide range of interests in the village:

Wildlife

The Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary was formed in 1973. There are 13 Reserved Forests in this sanctuary. Wayanad wildlife Sanctuary is a part of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and Project Elephant Reserve No 7. It is contiguous with Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary of Tamil Nadu and Bandipur and Nagarahole National Park of Karnataka.
The flora of Wayanad is characteristic of the Western Ghats and the plantation crops grown in the cool climate. A major portion of the district is covered by coffee. Trees of the wild type like rose-wood, anjili (Artocarpus), mullumurikku (Erythrina), several species of Cassia and many other non-descript varieties are still preserved here and there, to give shade to the coffee plants. These trees give a semblance of wilderness to the landscape of Wayanad. In a majority of coffee plantations, the age-old species are replaced by the silver-oak (Grevillia sp), which is suited to the cold climate. This tree grows quickly and its cultivation is widespread among coffee plantations for shade and for giving support to pepper. It is used for the plywood industry and thus is economical to the farmers. Eucalyptus grandis, a shorter variety of eucalyptus, whose fragrant smell suffuses the very air around it, is cultivated on a large scale in contain parts of the district. Eucalyptus oil is extracted on commercial basis from its leaves. Of the 20,864 hectares of reserve forest, the major portion is teak (Tectona grandis) plantation. Areca nut palms and jack trees are also grown here. Tea is grown as an industry in large estates. The soil and climate of Wayanad are suitable for horticulture on commercial basis. For promoting the cultivation of vegetables and raising of orchards, the Kerala Agricultural University is running a Regional Agricultural Research Station at Ambalavayal. With the clearing of forests, the diverse and buzzing animal life, characteristic of the forests of Western Ghats, has vanished from Wayanad.
The Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary website lists the species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, dragonflies, fish, and vegetation.