29-07-2025
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.
