Mokokchung, 3rd December, 2025 (www.nokinketer.in): With a vision to deepen understanding of local flora, fauna, and cultural heritage, the Mokokchung Forest Division, in collaboration with the community of Mokokchung, inaugurates MerakümTzüin – Nagar Van Mokokchung (Meraküm Tzüin, meaning “The Grand Waterfall”, thunders through the valley as a symbol of continuity, power, and life).

The 50-hectare area that now forms Nagar Van lay fallow for nearly a decade and thus is a landscape with ancestral memory. Once a jhum field at Yakon̄g Pok, this landscape carries the memory of old cultivation, sacred groves, vanished wildlife, ritual spaces, and stories passed down by elders. For the Ao people, rocks, trees, rivers, and trails have always been more than physical features—they were ancestral weather stations, medicinal guides, navigational cues, and moral texts encoded in the landscape.

This 50-hectare community-led restoration stands as a landmark of ecological renewal, cultural memory, and shared responsibility. It marks a turning point where a community once again becomes the custodian of its environment, its culture, and its future.

The revival of MerakümTzüin began through dialogue with the Mokokchungvillage Council and elders of the Mokokchung village  initiated by the Mokokchung Forest Division and a Nagar Van Committee was formed between the Mokokchung village and the Forest department for development of the Nagar Van.

This restored forest is now a model of community-driven conservation, featuring:

  • Afforestation with native species
  • A concrete eco-trail with 546 steps
  • Resting shelters, viewpoints & gazebos
  • A wilderness shelter
  • Drinking points & restrooms
  • A bio-amphitheatre for ecological and cultural storytelling
  • A Bible Garden featuring plants from or linked to Scripture
  • A sanctuary for forest bathing & wellbeing
  • A sustainable eco-tourism model
  • A Living Lab envisioned as a real-world learning and research space, integrating ecology, culture, and hands-on nature-based education. As it grows, it will evolve into a digital conservation hub enabling global participation, tree adoption, and AI-powered learning
  • And above all, a blueprint for climate resilience

Nagar Van goes beyond restoration—it pioneers future-ready conservation tools.

These initiatives bridge traditional ecological knowledge with modern climate tools, empowering youth, researchers, tourists, and global supporters. The journey demanded sacrifice, labour, and pain, as community members worked relentlessly—carrying materials, shaping trails, and protecting and guarding the land against degradation. They have used resources judiciously and with deep responsibility.

The restored jhum landscape now offers stabilized slopes & reduced soil erosion, improved water infiltration & microclimate regulation, carbon sequestration through native species, revival of flora, fauna, pollinators & fungi, strengthened wildlife corridors and ecosystem resilience.

Here is a model for the entire country where ecology meets identity, and livelihoods and conservation coexist, all of which may be replicated across Northeast India. This was a collective vision sown by the partnership of the community and the department.

This urban forest/forest park is not just an inauguration but
It is a restored memory, a revived ecosystem, and a renewed covenant between people and land.

*****