AN MSc in zoology from Gauhati University in Assam, Purnima Devi Barman has made long strides in the domain of wildlife conservation, considered a male bastion. As a biologist of Aaranyak, a premier conservation organisation and a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in the Northeast, Purnima has become a global figure in respect of conservation of the rare Greater Adjutant Stork species. Her innovative way of facilitating conservation of the bird involving village residents of Dadara and Pacharia in Kamrup district of Assam has earned her tremendous support. The village residents are impressed with her commitment and dedication.
Thirty-something, Purnima is a mother to two daughters who constantly
need her attention as her conservationist-husband mostly remains out of town. But it doesn't come in the way of her determination to work for the protection of the endangered stork in the Brahmaputra valley of Assam, especially in a nesting colony of the bird at Dadara village in Kamrup district of Assam.
The global distribution of adjutant stork, the rarest of the 20 species of storks, is confined to a few isolated pockets in the Brahmaputra valley of Assam, Bihar and Cambodia. In Assam, the bird mainly nests in private areas and conservation is mainly dependent on the efforts of the community. The global population of the species is only about 1,000, out of which about 80 per cent have been recorded in Assam.
Rising numbers
For the last several years, Purnima has been working extensively to protect the bird that is mentioned on the IUCN red list. Around 750-800 storks have been recorded in Assam - the highest concentration in the world.
Purnima received the Future Conservationist Award 2009 from the Conservation Leadership Programme, UK, for working extensively in Dadara and Pacharia vil lages, 12 km from Guwahati, where the stork breeds in treetop colonies located on private land. About 148 nests were recorded this year in the area in a survey led by her.
The villages now take pride in the presence of the bird in their backyard. The villagers are so attached to the bird that they have built a statue of the stork on the campus of Sankardev Sisu Niketan at Dadara and regularly perform prayers for the conservation of the bird.
Cambodia model
Purnima recently completed international field training in a remote forest area in Cambodia on nesting monitoring and biology of the stork. The Conservation Leadership Programme offered her the training and also provided a scholarship for it.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Cambodia, hosted the training programme. During this period, she worked in forest with forest rangers and the WCS team. She worked at the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary, situated on Tonle Sap Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.
"The major difference in the conservation story of the Greater Adjutant Stork in Cambodia and Assam is that in Cambodia the bird breeds and roosts in deep forest and not in private lands, as in Assam. Habitat destruction, felling of trees, hunting, etc. are major problems in Assam whereas poaching for meat and egg collection by fringe villagers are the problems in Cambodia," Purnima says.
"Prek Toal is a flooded forest on the Tonle Sap Lake and villagers live 28 km from this forest in three floating villages. Villagers are dependent on the lake and the forest for livelihood. The ministry of environment and forest in Cambodia has declared this area as a biosphere reserve to help the communities and reduce the pressure on forest resources. The ministry in collaboration with the WCS selected some egg collectors from the village and transformed them into rangers by providing continuous education and training to them. They are now dedicated conservationists," she says.
There are 28 bird monitoring platforms in the forest area of Prek Toal and she visited many of them for monitoring purpose. These platforms are located on treetops at a height of about 30-40 ft height and look like 'machan'. The experience in Cambodia has inspired Purnima to construct a 70-ft 'machan' in her key project site at Dadara village to facilitate better conservation efforts.
Change of heart
The going was not easy as she faced resistance. "I started conservation work in the thickly populated village of Dadara, where over 80 nests were recorded in 2009. During a survey in 2009, I found that some locals did not hesitate to disturb the bird at its nesting site. A few locals even cut nesting trees to get rid of 'this dirty bird' from their campus. But today, the same people have successfully protected the nesting site, gathered scientific data and rescued chicks that fall from nests. They now celebrate when rescued chicks are successfully rehabilitated," she says.
The community in Dadara is now a role model for community conservation. It could be achieved through sustained awareness and motivation campaigns.
