Purnima Devi Barman: The Woman Who Saved the Greater Adjutant Stork

A woman is the most capable being in the entire universe. The very person who sustains life on the planet can do anything she sets her mind to.

Most women in the Hargila Army were living ordinary lives. Some were homemakers, others weavers of traditional textiles and so on. But today, they travel from village to village spreading the word about wildlife conservation, organising community meetings or helping protect endangered species. Who led the change? Purnima Devi Barman

Who is Purnima Devi Barman?

Barman is a wildlife biologist, conservationist and founder of the Hargila Army. A 20,000-member, women-led conservation movement that has transformed the lives of humans and birds. Most importantly, the army has been working towards the conservation of the greater adjutant stork, locally known as the Hargila. For generations, the stork was one of the most disliked birds in Assam. Tall, ungainly and known for feeding on carcasses and waste, it was often viewed as a bad omen. In fact, the name 'hargila' itself translates to 'bone swallower' in Assamese. With such a lens, attacks on the birds and their nests were common. Villagers would cut down nesting trees, and children were told scary stories about the birds as something to avoid. By the 1990s, the population of hargila in the state had reduced to a shocking 115 birds. But today, there are more than 1,800 of these birds in Assam. Moreover, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) further estimates their global population to be more than 3,180. In 2023, the species' status was upgraded on the IUCN Red List from 'endangered' to 'near threatened'.

The trailblazer

At the centre of this turnaround is Barman. According to her, the story begins with her grandmother. Raised in a village on the banks of the Brahmaputra, she spent most of her childhood outdoors, surrounded by wetlands, paddy fields and birds. Her grandmother, an unlettered farmer, was her first teacher. “We didn’t have a television at home. We didn’t watch nature documentaries,” she said. “My grandmother instilled that love for nature.” When she refused to eat as a child, her grandmother would weave stories around the birds in the fields and pique her interest. Long before she learnt ecology in school, her grandmother had taught her that trees, insects, birds and rivers were all part of the same world. “My grandmother was an environmental educator,” she added. “She taught me how to respect every species.” Soon, Barman led the way by becoming the first woman in her family to pursue higher education, studying zoology at Gauhati University and later, earning a PhD focused on the greater adjutant stork. She shared that she was drawn to the bird partly since it reminded her of her childhood. While she saw an abundance of them as a kid, as an adult their population was disappearing. Then came the turning point in 2007 when Barman, then a mother of two and a half-year-old twin daughters, received a call from a village. A nesting tree had been cut down and nine destroyed nests with injured chicks were on the ground. When she confronted the tree owner, she found herself surrounded by angry villagers. “They started telling me this bird is a bad omen,” she remembered. This encounter stayed with her and made her realise that she needed to act. The next morning, she returned to the village with her daughters, speaking to the people as a mother. She pointed out that if one's own children make a mess, parents still care for them. Then why should the birds be treated any differently? But who would listen to a stranger? Thus, Barman began attending village gatherings, religious ceremonies and community events. She organised local events like cooking competitions and traditional food festivals. And slowly, she introduced simple environmental education games to explain how all species are interconnected. Slowly, as trust began to build, she drew a connection between motherhood and the nesting behaviour of the storks. Just like Assamese communities celebrated expectant mothers through traditional baby showers, women began hosting symbolic baby showers for the nesting birds, offering prayers for their well-being. Now, a bird that was once considered the harbinger of misfortune has become a symbol of the local culture.

A women-led movement

Soon, the community of women collaborated into the Hargila Army, monitoring nesting sites, rescuing fallen chicks and conducting awareness campaigns about conservation. Barman even worked with government agencies, self-help groups and training institutions to create income-generating opportunities for the women. Through training programmes, they began incorporating hargila motifs into traditional Assamese textiles, including mekhela sadors, scarves, bags and handicrafts. These products are sold at exhibitions, conservation events, and cultural showcases, and can be ordered online, becoming a source of income and financial independence. Moreover, she has established the Hargila Learning Centre, which serves as a hub for environmental education in schools. Her conservation model has become an example internationally, through training initiatives in Cambodia and her work with the Rewilding Academy in the Netherlands. “She has made people feel proud of a species they otherwise thought poorly about,” said filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer Sandesh Kadur, who documented Barman's work for international audiences in a BBC production. “Only women can make this happen,” Barman said. “They can take conservation into every home.” In terms of recognition, she has also received the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2017, the United Nations Environment Programme's Champions of the Earth Award in 2022, and the Whitley Gold Award, often known as the Green Oscar in 2024. What are your thoughts on this incredible lady?