India's first 'green' village adapts to life without tourists

Khonoma's residents are sanguine about the Covid-19-enforced loss of visitor income - and it's all thanks to their sustainable lifestyleCoronavirus - latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAs he looks to the future, Kezhaseria Meyase, a 37-year-old resident of Khonoma, expresses confidence in the youth of the village. "They are well aware of the importance of conserving our forests and wildlife," he says.For the first time since the creation of the Khonoma Nature Conservation and Tragopan Sanctuary (KNCTS) in 1998, tourism in Khonoma has come to a halt. In 2019, the remote 700-year-old village in the Indian state of Nagaland, near the Indo-Myanmar border, received more than 4,000 visitors. Nearly a fifth of the tourists were from overseas, drawn to Khonoma's rich biodiversity and conservation success (in 2005, it was named India's first "green village"). Continue reading...