Despite being a symbol of Kashmir’s cultural and ecological identity, Chinar numbers have declined dramatically over the past few decades due to factors ranging from climate change to urbanization and illegal felling SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir For Kashmiri environmental activist Raja Muzaffar Bhat, witnessing the axing of 500-year-old Chinar trees was a moment of profound distress. Some of the centuries-old trees, revered as symbols of Kashmir’s heritage, were cut down last month in a northern