The 120 year old Bombay Gowrakshak Mandali with a legacy of excellence in grass and fodder research seeks to employ sustainable methods to use technology in order to regenerate indigenous breeds of cattle.

The 350 acre farm with its legacy of social good was viewed as a holistic platform for continuity and change in the Mandali’s future plans and endeavors. The existing heritage farm though fulfilling the exigencies, needed to expand to fulfill the needs of a scientific, research and breeding facility.

The preservation of the cow is so intrinsic to our culture it could be used as a powerful impetus to drive a project for a sustainable ecosystem, create a model for innovative development and foster economic, social and aesthetic change; the Betegaon Reserve, is planned as the home of a herd of 600 indigenous Gir cows. The project is envisaged as an environment for the well being of the cow and extends to include the well being of land and community in an interdependent synergy cycle.

A comprehensive regional study, followed by a master plan was prepared to set a long term blueprint for growth. The master plan aims to cover the whole mandate outlined with great foresight in the Aims and Objectives laid down a hundred years ago by BGM, but valid even today. The Bombay Gowrakshak Mandali established 120 years ago by likeminded people and donations of land, cattle and funds, laid down a set of clear objectives and judiciously managed these resources. The corpus provides for preservation and improvement of indigenous cattle breeds, milk for children, veterinary education, animal husbandry and fodder research. These objectives are interpreted anew on the Reserve as a synergetic link between cow, land and community.

The Reserve seeks to preserve an old tract of grassland, rich in lore and memory, as a definitive marker in a region with rapidly changing land-use. The design puts in place self-renewing systems of water, fodder and waste, mitigating effects of environmental damage. It is an architecture of comfort and the horizontal, and settles in the land in long distinct bands of airy buildings. Use of materials with low embodied energy innovate forms which build upon local practices and skills, evolving a climate friendly and sustainable language and identity.

The alluvial region once running with natural water courses and rich in forest, has seen degradation and discontinuities of environmental quality and needs attention as it begins to affect the Betegaon Farm. The project seeks to create a Reserve by interlinking and replenishing all its environmental resources of water, land and biodiversity. These are woven together with new technology, local skills and materials to form a sustainable Reserve for cows and community.