Purnima Devi Barman, a wildlife biologist from Assam in north-eastern India, has been honoured with the £100,000 Whitley Gold Award for her work to protect the Greater Adjutant Stork – known locally as ‘Hargila – and its wetland habitat with her team at Aaranyak.
Dr Barman’s inspiring “International scale-up: Doubling the numbers of Greater Adjutant Storks across their global range” was selected as the winner for the prestigious nature awards by the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), a UK charity which annually celebrate grassroots conservationists the world over for their locally-led solutions to the global biodiversity and climate crises.
WFN said: “Before her intervention, the stork – known as ‘Hargila’ in the local language – were thought of as smelly, dirty and unwanted vermin and their numbers had dwindled to an estimated 450 birds in the state. Changing attitudes and galvanising local people, primarily women, to safeguard nests, their numbers have now quadrupled to more than 1,800.
“Looking ahead, Purnima now wants to double the global population of the bird to 5,000 by 2030, working across the stork’s range in India and Cambodia. Her project aims to grow community-driven conservation initiatives to bolster the number of Greater Adjutant breeding pairs, expanding support of local women to grow the ‘Hargila Army’ of ‘Stork sister’ advocates. She will also establish a collaborative network of WFN alumni, students, scientists and policymakers, providing conservation education and promoting a knowledge exchange programme.”
Dr Barman hopes to expand her Hargila Army to 20,000 members and says their contribution extends beyond merely safeguarding the bird.
She explains: “It empowers thousands of women, enhancing their livelihoods and catalysing social change within villages as women emerge as conservation leaders.”
Already a winner of the Whitley Award back in 2017, with her Gold Award Dr Barman plans to:
Scale up conservation efforts to the state of Bihar in East India and into Cambodia to encompass the global geographic range of the stork – and increase the population to 5,000 birds by 2030.
Grow community-driven conservation initiatives to bolster the number of Greater Adjutant breeding pairs by 20% within two years by safeguarding the four nesting colonies in Assam
Expand support of local women to grow the ‘Hargila Army’ of stork advocates from 10,000 to 20,000 participants.
Establish a collaborative network of WFN alumni, students, scientists and policymakers. This will involve providing conservation education to more than 20,000 Assamese students and a knowledge exchange programme between students in Bihar University and University of Assam.
*Info: Whitley Fund for Nature; Aaranyak
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