Purnima Barman

Purnima Devi Barman is a wildlife biologist from Assam, India. She is known for her conservation work with the greater adjutant stork (Leptoptilos dubius), known locally as the Hargila. She is the founder of the Hargila Army, an all-female conservation initiative. In 2017, Barman was the recipient of both the Whitley Award for her conservation efforts and the Nari Shakti Puraskar, the highest women-exclusive civilian award, presented by the President of India.

Biography Purnima Devi Barman attended Gauhati University in Assam, where she obtained her Masters in Zoology, with a specialization in Ecology and Wildlife Biology. In 2007 she started her PhD research, but she delayed finishing it until 2019 in order to focus on community conservation education in villages in rural Assam. Barman has worked as a Senior Wildlife Biologist in the Avifauna Research and Conservation Division at Aaranyak, a non-government organization for biodiversity conservation, where she coordinated Aaranyak's greater adjutant stork conservation project. Barman is also a Director at WiNN (Women in Nature Network) India, and a Member of the IUCN Stork, Ibis and Spoon bill Specialist Group.

Greater adjutant

Barman is known for her work with the greater adjutant, a large stork listed as endangered by the IUCN red list. It has a global population of 800–1,200 mature individuals, with the majority of these individuals (650–800) found in Assam India. In Assam this bird lives in close contact with urban areas, nests in privately owned trees and scavenges at rubbish dumps. Barman then decided to postpone her PhD in order to focus on educating local communities about the ecological importance of the greater adjutant.

Barman led a number of conservation campaigns that integrated the culture and traditions of the local villagers. These included presenting conservation messages during religious functions, cooking competitions, street plays and community dances. Other education techniques included involving film celebrities to spread conservation awareness, Education campaigns were also directed at children and young adults, using games and activities to educate them on the ecological importance of the greater adjutant. This group has over 20,000 members including 400 local Assamese volunteers. Their goal is to remove all obstacles that prevent greater adjutant conservation.

Barman is also credited with integrating greater adjutant conservation into the culture of rural Assamese villages. Efforts to change the image of the birds from bad omens or pests into one worthy of representation in celebrated human traditions like marriage and childbirth.

Awards and honours Barman was the recipient of the 2017 Nari Shakti Puraskar (the highest civilian award for Indian women) presented by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind. Also in 2017, a Whitley Award (also known as a Green Oscar) was presented to her by Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom. In addition, Barman has received the Leadership Award 2015 from the Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP), the Future conservationist award 2009, Royal Bank of Scotland RBS "Earth Hero Award" 2016, In 2024, she won the GBP £100,000 Whitley Gold Award from the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), which supports grassroots conservation leaders from around the world. She was named one of Time's Women of the Year and also listed in the Asian Scientist 100 in 2025.

Selected works

Barman, P.D., A.K Das, B.K Das, S. Biswas. 2011. Conservation Initiatives for Greater Adjutant in Assam, India. Final Report, CLP project ID 331509. Aaranyak.