GUWAHATI: Assam environmentalist Purnima Devi Barman has been selected for the prestigious Whitley Awards, also known as the Green Oscars, for her efforts and campaigns for the conservation of greater adjutant storks.
The award will be conferred on her in London on Thursday. Barman was selected from among 166 researchers from 66 countries and will receive 35,000 pounds prize money in project funding over one year.
Purnima Devi Barman has been instrumental in creating an all-female network in three villages of Kamrup district to save the greater adjutant storks, which are scavengers locally called “hargila”.
The bird’s global population is between 1,200 and 1,800. Around 800 of them are found in Assam and is also found in Bihar, numbering around 150.
“I am happy our work has been recognised. It was only made possible with cooperation from everyone. I want to share my happiness with everybody associated with the work,” Barman, who is associated with Aaranyak, a NGO that works for wildlife conservation, said from London.