A Eco Lodge Built From the Land It Protects

Stephan Cabibel
Jul 13
3 min read

On the edge of Bardiya National Park stands a lodge that just earned international recognition for sustainable design — and that channels its income straight back into the people and tigers around it.

We've partnered with Tiger Track Eco Lodge, and from 2027 we'll be sending travellers here. This is why.

Where conservation, community and comfort come together — that's the simplest way we can describe Tiger Track Eco Lodge. It sits on the edge of Bardiya National Park, and it is far more than a place to sleep between safaris. It's a working conservation project that shows, in concrete terms, how tourism can benefit wildlife and local people at the same time.

In 2026 the lodge was named Popular Choice Winner in the Sustainable Hospitality Building category at the Architizer A+ Awards — one of architecture's most respected international prizes. The recognition is for the way the building itself embodies its mission, not just for how it looks.

Photo Credit: Tiger Track Eco Lodge

Built from the earth, in the Tharu tradition

Designed by the studio Building Bureau and completed in 2026, the lodge was constructed using rammed-earth walls, locally sourced materials and reclaimed terracotta tiles, in an architecture inspired by the local Tharu tradition. The result is a building with a deliberately light footprint that belongs to its landscape rather than imposing on it — reception and offices, a dining hall, staff accommodation and guest cottages, all under one quietly considered roof.

Every decision reflects the same priorities: sustainability, conservation, and travel that gives back.

Why this lodge exists

What makes Tiger Track different is the reason it was built.

It was founded by the wildlife conservationist Hemanta Acharya, whose own father was killed by an elephant in 2010. In this part of Nepal, that is not a rare tragedy. Bardiya is one of South Asia's great conservation success stories — its tiger population has recovered remarkably — but recovery brings people and big animals into closer daily contact, and those encounters can be fatal. The people who live alongside the tigers carry the real risk of protecting them.

Tiger Track was built to turn the economics of tourism back toward those communities. A share of lodge revenue funds a Single Women's Wildlife Victim Fund, which provides seed capital for small businesses to families who have lost their main earner to a wildlife attack. Further contributions support the Community-Based Anti-Poaching Unit, whose volunteer rapid-response team is based at the lodge itself and steps in when human–wildlife conflict flares.

So the lodge is two things at once: somewhere to stay, and a hub for the conservation work happening around it. Wildlife tourism here creates real, traceable benefits for the people who share their home with Nepal's Bengal tigers.

Photo Credit: Tiger Track Eco Lodge

Why we've partnered with them

This is exactly the kind of project we believe in.

By working with Tiger Track, we — and you — support a locally owned initiative that creates jobs, strengthens conservation, and keeps tourism income inside the community rather than letting it leak away. We've always thought the most honest travel experiences are the ones that empower local people while protecting the landscapes and wildlife that make a place like Bardiya so extraordinary.

There's also a thread you may recognise from the BBC's Tiger Island. The lodge shares a close connection with Sushila Mahatara, the tiger-tracking guide featured in that film. As part of the same extended family and conservation community, Sushila and the lodge team carry generations of local knowledge and a real, inherited commitment to protecting Bardiya's wildlife.

What it means to stay here

When you stay at Tiger Track, you're not simply booking a room. You're supporting a community-driven conservation success story, and becoming part of a model of tourism that protects Bardiya's wildlife while creating opportunities for the people who call this region home.

We've recently begun working with the lodge, and from 2027 we'll be able to place our travellers here as part of a thoughtfully planned Bardiya journey — the right season, the right guides, every detail handled.

If that's the kind of trip that speaks to you, let's start the conversation now.

See you out there, Roxy & Stephan