Students Gather for Environmental Leadership Training in Niuland

Kohima: Students from Hope Academy, St. Peters, Livingstone Foundation International, Milon, Toluvi Church Sunday School, and Tetso College met at the Tea Courtyard in the Atoqa Tea Factory, Niuland, on July 25. The North East Environment and Development Association and White Owl hosted the event. The program featured the Pani Pahar curriculum, a set of lessons built by Hearth Advisors and the University of Cambridge.

Cambridge alumnus Shashank Vira led the environmental learning sessions. Tonoto Zhimomi, a TAFMA Excellence Award winner and former Global Mr. Nagaland, held a workshop on personality development and leadership. Sponsors included the Tea Courtyard and Atoqa Tea Factory, the maker of Nagaland Gold CTC black tea, to boost interest in ecotourism and local tea production.

The curriculum operates across seven states through the Mobius North East Climate Project, a platform run by North East Leaders Connect. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu started the project in Pasighat in 2025, while Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio inaugurated the effort in Kohima that same year. According to Dr. Atoho Jakhalu, a Fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Society, "local action carries major implications for India’s national and global forest and climate commitments."

The Mobius Nagaland Chapter earned the Nagaland United Nations Sustainable Goal Award for Environmental Sustainability in 2025. Organizers focused on the Indo Burma Biodiversity Hotspot. This area contains one fourth of India’s total forest cover.