Purnima Devi Barman | Sir David Attenborough presents 2024 Whitley Gold Award | India скачать в хорошем качестве

Purnima Devi Barman | Sir David Attenborough presents 2024 Whitley Gold Award | India

Purnima Devi Barman, a wildlife biologist from Assam, India, who won a Whitley Award in 2017, has been honoured with the £100,000 Whitley Gold Award for her work to protect the Greater Adjutant Stork and its wetland habitat with her team at Aaranyak. Before her intervention, the stork – known as ‘hargila’ in the local language – were thought of as smelly, dirty and unwanted vermin and their numbers had dwindled to an estimated 450 birds in the state. Changing attitudes and galvanising local people, primarily women, to safeguard nests, their numbers have now quadrupled to more than 1,800. Looking ahead, Purnima now wants to double the global population of the bird to 5,000 by 2030, working across the stork's range in India and Cambodia. Her project aims to grow community-driven conservation initiatives to bolster the number of Greater Adjutant breeding pairs, expanding support of local women to grow the 'Hargila Army' of 'Stork sister' advocates. She will also establish a collaborative network of WFN alumni, students, scientists and policymakers, providing conservation education and promoting a knowledge exchange programme. • Watch the 2024 Whitley Awards livestream:    • Whitley Awards 2024: LIVE!