Meet Fayaz Ahmad Dar, a businessman from the Ganderbal area who founded this region’s first eco-village with the goal and ambition to positively impact society while fostering and maintaining his home country’s rich culture and customs.
Fayaz Ahmad Dar, a local expert on sustainable development, a coach for eco-entrepreneurship, and a speaker, founded the first eco-village under the name “Sagg Eco Village” in the Lar section of the Ganderbal district.
Building Kashmir’s first eco-village
Sagg Eco Village presents and advances Kashmiri customs and culture. He set up and launched the ecologically aware company that symbolises Kashmiri culture and heritage over the course of roughly three years.
Currently, Sagg is a camping, eco-cultural, recreational, and educational complex. Sagg, an innovative project to promote sustainable living and preserve Kashmir’s cultural and traditional heritage, is located in the Sindh River’s foothills. The eco-village, which covers about 1.5 acres and strictly adheres to the zero-waste concept, has lovely mud cottages to stay in as well as an organic garden for fresh produce.
This promotes environmentally friendly tourism. Making the most of available space and abandoned goods decorate the path leading into the Sagg.
Traditional handcrafted Kashmiri items are widely available in homes and coffee shops. When the restaurant’s simple soil floor is moistened for mopping, it emits a calming odour. The seats and chairs are made of wood and wicker. Mud walls and floors are similarly decorated with outmoded reed mats. Fayaz stated that he purchased the land on which Sagg will be built in 2013.
It was a deserted, abandoned plot of land in the foothills. It was completely covered in rocks and thorns and lacked even the most basic amenities like electricity and running water.
But I was confident that I could develop this plot of land successfully. Thanks to the help of our volunteers and staff, we were able to gradually transform the property into what it is now. Fayaz, who was born in Ganderbal to a farming family, left Kashmir for education and began working when he was 15 years old.
He studied commerce, business, human resource development, sustainable development, and conflict resolution over the next two decades. He worked in educational, organisational, and developmental practise, administration, and research in a variety of cultural settings for about ten different organisations. Fayaz has travelled to over 20 countries for work and education. He returned to Kashmir in 2010 with the intention of passing on his knowledge and experience to future generations.
First eco-village in J&K called Sagg
“The first eco-village in J&K was established in 2013 and is called Sagg. Sagg is a natural farm, a cultural retreat, and a regenerative lifestyle venture that designs, develops, and promotes leisure, educational, and lifestyle services, spaces, products, and programmes for individuals, families, and groups using a unique synthesis of ecological, cultural, and scientific wisdom. Sagg is situated in Ganderbal near a multiethnic area with a rich cultural heritage, on the lovely Harmukh foothills overlooking the Sindh and Nigeen Valleys “said Fayaz.
“We prepare and sell healthy foods based on natural ingredients and traditional recipes, and handcrafted lifestyle products based on eco-friendly processes,” said Fayaz who coaches individuals, groups, and organizations to achieve the desired transformation for personal development, and professional enhancement and social wellbeing.
A localised ecological business venture Sagg is now a significant economic contributor to this multi-cultural and economically disadvantaged area. The infrastructure was built with local materials and labour.
The operational crew is local, and many consumable items are also sourced locally. Sagg also organises capacity-building programmes for local children and youth on scholarship. Sagg provides a weekly session of life skills development for local children. Sagg has organised several training programmes for local youth to become Nature Guides.
Sagg Eco Village is emerging as the best offbeat recreational destination in Kashmir, with a mission to build integrative and regenerative lifestyles and communities. Sagg’s facilities span 12 Kanals and include a village hostel with mud huts, dormitories, and tents that blend traditional and modern conveniences, a garden cafe that serves healthy, traditional, and natural foods based on traditional recipes, and a spa.
Natural farm and traditional food processing unit, as well as indoor and outdoor offbeat recreational and therapeutic spaces and activities.
Since 2016, Sagg has hosted many individuals, families, and groups from both inside and outside of Kashmir for recreational retreats and expeditions such as shepherd trail treks and offbeat recreational activities.
Sagg also organises women-only adventures and has senior female facilitators. Sagg also offers camps and programmes to help children, teachers, parents, farmers, businesses, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), executives, and other communities improve their recreational capacity. Sagg is well-liked by both residents and visitors.
Relaxation is encouraged by the peaceful environment, rich culture, and nutritious food. Visitors to Sagg leave feeling revitalised and de-stressed. Tourists from other countries are drawn to Kashmir because of its natural beauty, cultural integration, and the chance to visit a traditional Kashmiri village. Sagg has been dubbed Kashmir’s “Hidden Gem.”
