5
Restoring Kashmir’s lakes one community at a time: Interview with Manzoor Ahmad Wangnoo (news.mongabay.com)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/water@slrpnk.net
comment fedilink hide all child comments
 

  • Conservationist Manzoor Ahmad Wangnoo says restoring Kashmir’s lakes and wetlands depends on partnerships between communities, government agencies and local stakeholders.

  • Nearly half of the lakes recorded across Jammu and Kashmir in the 1960s have disappeared or shrunk, reflecting decades of pollution, encroachment and unplanned urbanization. Through Mission Ehsaas, Wangnoo and the Nigeen Lake

  • Conservation Organisation have helped revive degraded water bodies, showing how community-led conservation can drive ecological restoration.

  • Wangnoo discussed the ecological significance of Kashmir’s wetlands, the region’s beauty — and his optimism for the future.

other discussions
15
Restoring Kashmir’s lakes one community at a time: Interview with Manzoor Ahmad Wangnoo (news.mongabay.com)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/solarpunk@slrpnk.net
comment fedilink hide all child comments
 

Khushalsar and Gilsar are living examples. When we started Mission Ehsaas, many people laughed at us. They said, ‘We’ve seen these things before. You will take your money and disappear.’ I told them only one thing: Give me a week and don’t disturb me. Let our work speak.’

Within days, we managed to reopen part of the blocked navigation channel. People began to notice that something was actually changing. Slowly, they started believing and joining us. Over the next 100 days, nearly 1,000 truckloads of waste and muck were removed. Water that had remained stagnant for decades started flowing again.

That is the power of community participation. When people, stakeholders and the administration come together, anything and everything is possible.