"By the time you reach the end of this page, you'll know exactly what lives on this land — and how a building was placed here without displacing it."
The Dome Retreats, Madikeri · A pioneer in ecologically conscious hospitality in the Western Ghats — building lightly, stewarding actively, sharing what we learn about the irreplaceable life this land holds.
Before architects, we sent ecologists.
The Dome Retreats campus at Galibeedu sits within the Western Ghats — one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Before the first wall was drawn, ecologists spent fifteen field days across two seasons mapping every spring, stream, species and corridor on the ten-acre campus.
They found birds, butterflies, amphibians, the headwaters of small rivers — and one leaf-mimic mantis science hadn't yet named. So we drew the building around what they found: low, light, set into priority zones, leaving the richest ground untouched. Then we published what we learned, so the next builder beside a forest can do the same.
What the survey found
A rapid biodiversity assessment recorded a diverse, largely native community — much of it endemic to the Western Ghats — shaped above all by the campus's structural complexity and the stretches left least disturbed.
The campus carries high endemicity typical of the Western Ghats and falls within an Endemic Biodiversity Area. Tropical wet forest mixes with grassland and swamp; seasonal streams and two large springs drain into reclaimed paddy and low-lying marsh. About half the campus has been historically modified — the unmodified upper reaches retain the most diversity.
Over 100 plant species — 56 herbs, 10 shrubs, 5 climbers, ~20 trees and several lianas — about 80% native. Endemic and significant species cluster where human intervention has been least. Eleven invasive species are present and need systematic monitoring and removal.
At least 70+ birds, 50+ butterflies, 15 reptiles, 15 amphibians and 10 mammals — some 600+ species across all taxa. Most reptiles and amphibians are endemic, with several suspected undescribed species new to science. Riverine areas are crucial as corridors within and beyond the campus.
Schedule I species include Tiger, Leopard, King Cobra and raptors such as Black Eagle. Insectivorous plants — sundews and bladderworts — grow in the swamps. Over 90% of reptiles and amphibians are Western Ghats endemics. Several species are IUCN Near Threatened or Vulnerable.
Mapped through sensitivity assessment as ‘ecozones’. Least-disturbed boundaries and upper reaches hold the most native vegetation and rare species. Riverine buffers prevent landslides and flooding, while contiguous, undisturbed cores and wildlife corridors keep habitat connected inside and outside the campus.
The wild is the point — and it is gentler than it sounds
A few guests are surprised to learn that snakes, frogs, bats and the occasional large mammal share this landscape. That richness is exactly what makes the place worth protecting — and in practice, coexistence here is calm, considered and safe. The animals want nothing to do with us; a little awareness is all it takes.
Most snakes here are harmless and shy, and all avoid people. Lit, cleared paths at night, closed-toe shoes after dark, and never reaching into undergrowth are enough. Staff are snake-aware and trained to relocate, never harm.
Elephants, big cats and bears belong to the wider forest. Their wildlife corridors lie well beyond the campus — these animals are not seen here. The checklist records them for the district, not for the property; on campus, the wildlife you may meet is small and shy.
Because no pesticides are used, you may meet more insects — and, in the monsoon, leeches. Both are harmless. It is the same chemical-free environment that lets fireflies, butterflies and rare frogs thrive around you.
Never feed or corner an animal, keep food sealed, stay on marked paths after dark, and tell a staff member about any encounter. That's genuinely all — the wildlife does the rest by keeping its distance.
The aim is coexistence, not control. Every measure here is designed to let guests feel safe while leaving the landscape — and its animals — as undisturbed as possible.
Birds — 70+ species recorded
More than 70 bird species were recorded — 57 residents and 12 migrants. Most are insectivores (42 species), alongside frugivores, raptors, nectarivores and a few fish-eaters. Given the campus's small size, many birds pass through to feed rather than stay.
Every species is protected under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Raptors such as the Black Eagle hold Schedule I status; the Plum-headed Parakeet and Grey Junglefowl are listed in CITES Appendix II. Tree stands and waterholes are vital for feeding and roosting.
Butterflies — 50+ species recorded
Over 50 species were recorded. Blues (Lycaenidae) favoured the herb-rich ground; whites and yellows (Pieridae) kept to forest. Rare, highly endemic species turned up too — the Broad-tailed Royal, Coorg Forest Hopper, Sahyadri Blue Oakleaf and Tamil Spotted Flat. The Danaid Eggfly and White-bar Bushbrown are Schedule II species under the Wildlife Protection Act.
Plants of the campus
Over 100 plant species grow here — about 80% native, with wet-evergreen trees like Syzygium, Elaeocarpus and Donella giving way to grassland herbs and, in the swamps, insectivorous sundews (Drosera) and bladderworts (Utricularia).
Endemic and notable species — Memecylon randerianum, Lesser Balsam, Rose Epipogium, scaly tree ferns (Cyathea) — concentrate where the land has been least touched. Eleven invasive species, among them Chromolaena odorata and Lantana camara, need ongoing removal.
Reptiles & Amphibians — 28 species, 95% endemic
Fifteen reptile species were recorded, most endemic to the Western Ghats. The elevation keeps out the ‘big four’ but allows venomous specialists — Malabar Pit Viper, Black Coral Snake and the Schedule I King Cobra. Some records may be undescribed species.
Amphibian diversity is healthy: fifteen species, over 95% endemic, several likely new to science. Their abundance — and the absence of pesticides — points to a rich invertebrate base and the value of the campus's least-modified, structurally complex ground.
Reptiles
Amphibians
Mammals — confirmed on property
About ten mammal species were directly confirmed on the property through sightings, camera traps, ultrasonic bat recording and interviews with local people. The wider Kodagu district holds more than thirty — but the large, wide-ranging animals among them keep to forest and corridors well beyond the campus and are not seen here. On the property itself, the mammals are small and unobtrusive: civets, muntjac and boar coming to drink at water points, and bats roosting in building crevices.
When the campus comes alive
The Western Ghats moves through two monsoons and a brief cool winter. Each season unlocks a different layer — come once and you glimpse it; come across the year and you begin to know it.
Where minor rivers begin
The campus sits where minor river sources originate. Madikeri receives roughly 100 inches of rain a year, and the wet season runs close to nine months — late March to mid-December — peaking in July at about 28 inches.
Because excess water moves through the site, it needs an integrated water-management system: one that drains water without stripping topsoil, keeps the springs and streams from pollution, and harvests and recharges rainwater so the campus stays watered through the dry months.
A campus woven into a larger wild landscape
The campus lies in Kodagu district, on the Western Ghats north of Madikeri, amid paddy, coffee, ginger and other spice cultivation. Its vegetation is primarily tropical wet evergreen forest, threaded with grassland, springs, minor streams and swamps — the latter reclaimed from abandoned paddy fields over two decades.
It is ringed by protected forests — among them Talacauvery, Pushpagiri and Nagarhole. About ten globally recognised Key Biodiversity Areas, Important Bird Areas and Endemic Bird Areas lie in the wider landscape, acting as source populations whose wildlife ebbs and flows through the campus.
Building zones, set against ecological assets
The plan reads the campus as two kinds of ground — buildable zones and non-buildable ecological assets — organised into seven components, with sensitivity rising from south to north.
Priority zones, south to north
Guidelines for design & construction
Keeping the campus resilient
Habitat modification — even the kind meant kindly — is named as the single biggest long-term threat. The study sets out the pressures to watch, and a clear programme of care.
A standing long-term monitoring system.
Voluntary automated air-quality monitoring with state agencies.
Monthly water testing; bi-annual soil testing, logged systematically.
An independent Environmental Committee to ensure goals are met.
How protection is classified
A globally understood system for classifying extinction risk, across nine categories: Not Evaluated, Data Deficient, Least Concern, Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, Extinct in the Wild and Extinct.
Indian law affording graded protection through Schedules I–VI. Schedule I carries the highest protection, descending to Schedule V; Schedule VI covers plants that may not be cultivated or collected.
Groups species by how threatened they are by international trade. Appendix I — threatened with extinction; Appendix II — may become so without strict regulation; Appendix III — protected at a member country's request.
The campus and its surroundings were surveyed over roughly 15 field days across 2021–2022, spread through the seasons and concentrated in the monsoon. Flora used stratified, opportunistic sampling keyed to flowering phenology; fauna were surveyed at dawn and dusk and at night, with camera traps, ultrasonic bat recording and interviews. Sensitivity was assessed both by ecological scoring of the landscape (after AICHI Target 11) and against IUCN, the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and CITES.
Key references include the IUCN Red List (2020); BirdLife International country profiles & Important Bird Areas; ISRO/NRSC BHUVAN hydrology; Champion & Seth, A Revised Survey of the Forest Types of India (1968); Kunte, Butterflies of Peninsular India; Smith, Fauna of British India; and Prater, The Book of Indian Animals.
Citation: Hopeland P. (2023). Biodiversity Assessment Report — Rainforest Retreat, Galibeedu, Madikeri. Final report, undertaken by Hopeland P. for Nansey Restoration Services LLP. Water resources: Arul Sekar P. Client partner: Kiran B.C.
The forest isn't our view.
We're its guest.
Tread lightly. Learn loudly. · The Dome Retreats, Madikeri