Srinagar, Sept. 3 -- Nilnag Lake has a unique place in the ecological and cultural landscape of the Kashmir Himalaya. Located in the Yusmarg landscape, it is more than a pretty water body or burgeoning tourism area. Nilnag is a freshwater ecosystem sustained by its surrounding forests, mountain slopes, streams, grazing landscapes, and human settlements. Its ecological health is therefore inseparable from the condition of the wider catchment. The lake cannot remain healthy if the landscape that feeds and protects it continues to deteriorate. It was this ecological interconnectedness that informed the Nilnag Conservation Plan prepared by the Town Planning Organisation, Kashmir, in 2002. The plan attempted to move beyond conventional site de...