Indian conservationist Purnima Devi Barman has made it to Time magazine’s Women of the Year 2025 list for her exceptional contribution to wildlife conservation. Ms Devi Barman, from Assam, is the only Indian woman featured on the prestigious list with 12 other global honorees.
Who is Purnima Devi Barman?
1. Born in Assam’s Kamrup region, Purnima Devi Barman attended Gauhati University from where she obtained her Master’s degree in Zoology with a specialization in Ecology and Wildlife Biology. While researching for her PhD in 2007, Ms Barman saw a tree owner cut down a nest with a greater adjutant nest in 2007. Realising the stork was disliked for its looks and scavenging habits, she paused her PhD to educate locals on its ecological importance.
2. Known for leading several conservation campaigns, Ms Barman founded the “Hargilla Army”, a dedicated group of women, to turn wildlife protection into a grassroots movement while empowering local communities. She has also worked as a Senior Wildlife Biologist at Aaranyak, leading its greater adjutant conservation project. She is also the Director of WiNN (Women in Nature Network) India and a member of the IUCN Stork, Ibis, and Spoonbill Specialist Group.
3. To protect the stork, Ms Barman started by changing the people’s perception of the bird. Sixteen years after she started working towards its conservation, she has a team of roughly 10,000 women — “Hargila Army” — protecting the birds’ nesting sites, rehabilitating injured storks and even celebrating the arrival of newborns with “baby showers”.
4. Thanks to her efforts, the stork was moved from endangered status under the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s classification to near threatened. Ms Barman’s work has not been limited to conserving the stork. Her efforts have also made women entrepreneurial, offering them weaving looms and yarn so they create and sell textiles decorated with motifs of the hargila.
5. Ms Barman received the highest civilian award for Indian women, ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar’, from former President Ram Nath Kovind in 2017. In the same year, she was also awarded the Whitley Award, known as the Green Oscar, presented by Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom. She was also featured by National Geographic India.
