Latest news with #PurnimaDeviBarman
News18
30-07-2025
- General
- News18
Green Oscar conservationists Hargila Army community model for Cambodia
Guwahati, Jul 30 (PTI) Green Oscar award-winning conservationist Purnima Devi Barman, famed for her 'Hargila Army' model to protect and preserve the endangered Greater Adjutant Stork (GAS), has conducted an innovative community conservation training programme in Cambodia to empower women. Barman conducted a transformative community-led conservation initiative at the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary, a Ramsar site in Cambodia's Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve, on Monday for 20 women conservationists and park rangers of that country. The day-long training was aimed at adapting the Hargila Army model, a women-led conservation movement that has successfully protected the rare Greater Adjutant Stork (Hargila) in Assam, the UNEP Champion of the Earth winner said. A landmark outcome of the training was the formation of the Sisters and Brothers of Storks, a new collaborative global network that will work alongside the Hargila Army to conserve the Greater Adjutant globally for all other stork species, fostering a cross-border alliance for inclusive, community-based conservation. 'This is not just about saving a species but about empowering communities, especially women, to become guardians of nature by weaving conservation into the fabric of their culture and daily lives. The energy and resolve of the women of Prek Toal deeply moved me", Barman said. The training marks a milestone in South-South cooperation for biodiversity conservation, gender equality in field-based wildlife conservation programmes and strengthening ties between Assam and Cambodia through a shared commitment to ecological protection and women's leadership, she said. By integrating traditional knowledge, cultural heritage, and ecological science, the sessions inspired participants to develop community-centered conservation strategies tailored to Cambodia, Barman said. The highlight of the programme, organised by Cambodia's Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), was the inauguration of educational posters, designed by Barman, showcasing the behavioural ethogram of the Greater Adjutant stork. Unveiled by local community members and rangers, these posters symbolise a renewed commitment to conservation awareness and coexistence with storks and wetland wildlife, she said. The training featured engaging and creative activities, including leadership exercises to map women's strengths in conservation, cultural integration activities connecting local traditions with environmental values, 'textile hunt" exploring nature reflected in fabrics and folk expressions and 'web of life" game illustrating biodiversity interdependence. A collective pledge ceremony affirming dedication to protect Cambodia's natural and cultural heritage was also taken during the training. WCS Tonle Sap Landscape programme manager Phearun Sun expressed enthusiasm for future collaborations between the Assam Hargila conservation team and Prek Toal communities. He highlighted the Hargila Army's behaviour change model as an inspiration for community-driven conservation efforts to protect the Greater Adjutant Stork. PTI DG DG MNB view comments First Published: July 30, 2025, 13:30 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
The Hindu
29-07-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Cambodia adapting Assam's ‘stork army' model
GUWAHATI A successful Assam model designed for adjutant storks is being adapted for a transformative community-led conservation initiative for a Ramsar site in Cambodia's Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve. The initiative, hosted by Cambodia's Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), involves training 20 Cambodian women conservationists and park rangers in the 'Hargila Army' model, a women-led conservation movement that has helped protect the endangered greater adjutant stork in Assam. The focus area is the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary in the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve. The training programme on July 28 was led by Purnima Devi Barman, the founder of the Hargila Army and the United Nations Environment Programme Champion of the Earth. She is also a wildlife biologist at Aaranyak, an Assam-based biodiversity conservation organisation. 'Our sessions are aimed at inspiring participants to develop community-centred conservation strategies tailored for Cambodia by integrating traditional knowledge, cultural heritage, and ecological science,' Ms. Barman said. Educational posters showcasing the behavioural ethogram of the greater adjutant stork were the highlight of the programme. Unveiled by local community members and rangers, these posters symbolise a renewed commitment to conservation awareness and coexistence with storks and wetland wildlife, she said. The training featured engaging and creative activities, including leadership exercises to map women's strengths in conservation; cultural integration activities connecting local traditions with environmental values; 'textile hunts' exploring nature reflected in fabrics and folk expressions; and a 'web of life' game illustrating biodiversity interdependence. Phearun Sun, the WCS Tonle Sap Landscape Programme manager and the coordinator of the event, expressed enthusiasm for future collaborations between Assam's greater adjutant stork conservation team and the Prek Toal communities. Ms. Barman said the Sisters and Brothers of Storks, a new collaborative global network, was formed during the training. This network will work alongside the Hargila Army to conserve the greater adjutant stork and all other stork species globally. 'This is not just about saving a species. It is about empowering communities, especially women, to become guardians of nature by weaving conservation into the fabric of their culture and daily lives,' Ms. Barman said.
National Geographic
02-04-2025
- General
- National Geographic
The 'stork sisters' are saving one of India's largest and rarest birds
Known locally as hargila, the threatened Greater Adjutant stork has found a champion in an unlikely place: the Harglia Army, a group of about 20,000 rural women in India turned conservationists. Since 2014, the women have worked tirelessly to give the storks a desperately needed reputational revamp. Once reviled as filthy, adjutants prey on fish, frogs, snakes, rats, and smaller birds like ducks, rummaging through landfills looking for carcasses (hargila translates to bone swallower). Its feeding habits cemented its reputation as unsanitary, a perception that led to a rapid population decline of the adjutant, one of the world's largest and rarest storks. Native to India's floodplains in Assam and Bihar, in 2023, it was recently listed as 'near threatened' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Though its population remains fragile, it is increasing. Members of the Hargila Army in Dadara Village, Assam, India, throw a baby shower for Greater Adjutant stork chicks. This one was held on December 12, 2024. That's due in large part to the Hargila Army and its founder, wildlife biologist Dr. Purnima Devi Barman who saw the Greater Adjutant differently. Barman says she fell 'deeply in love' with the birds. "My grandma first introduced me to them in our village paddy fields, where they would flock," she recalls. Barman, who won the Whitely Gold Award in 2024, an international grant given to recognize major contributions to conservation, has made protecting the storks her life's mission. Under her guidance, and the help of the Hargila Army, the adjutant's numbers have quadrupled in Assam to more than 1,800 birds.
