At her age, most will be still trying to walk without falling, but not Aizel Masoodi. The three-year-old from the business town of Sopore in Jammu and Kashmir is already scaling heights.

On Thursday, Aizel was awarded the youngest hiker badge by South Asian Voluntary Association of Environmentalists (SAVAE), a Kashmir based organisation which focuses on environmental policy in South Asia.

SAVAE/ Twitter

“The youngest hiker in the drive was three-year-old Aizel from the business town of Sopore. She accompanied her father who is an avid hiker. This baby hiker remained the main attraction of this week-long eco-campaign which concluded on July 4,” SAVAE chairperson Bilal Ahmad said in a statement.

According to the organizers, the camp was aimed to identify and promote young environmental ambassadors.

SAVAE/ Twitter

“We identified and track down these young and budding hikers to project them in the centre stage and be the cheerleaders of critical environmental concerns that confront us all,” said Bilal Ahmad.

The NGO had organized a week-long series of treks and community awareness sessions primarily undertaken by young trek enthusiasts in the hilly terrain of Kangan of Ganderbal district.

SAVAE/ Twitter

Senior environmental journalist, Athar Parvaiz, who was the guest of honour on the occasion, said, “We tend to ignore that it is our water resources like the wetlands, lakes and glaciers in our region that attract tourists to the state. It is quite shocking to note that our glaciers have been receding at an alarming rate as suggest by some latest scientific studies. It is bound to put our state’s collective economic and ecological interests under strain.”