The representatives of 14 more villages under Tuensang district met at Chingmei under the Eastern Nagaland Conservation Area Network (ENCAN) recently and decided to conserve the forest areas under their village jurisdiction. According to sources here today, that the ENCAN was formed on December 9 last year at Tuensang in a gathering of 45 villages stretching across the eastern belt from Aboi area under Mon district towards the south ward to Saramati Range of hills in Longleng district. With these 14 villages joining ENCAN along with their satellite villages, the number rose to 72. ENCAN is expecting more villages would come under its banner to protect the forests with an aim to balanced ecological system to live in. Sources said during the workshop at Chingmei village, the representatives of the villages felt that rich natural heritage needed to be preserved for future generation and decided that it was not only conservation that was required, but also an urgent need to regenerate the fallow land contiguous to existing reserved forests. The 14 villages are the custodian of one of the largest pristine forest cover in Nagaland. (UNI)