NEW YORK, Feb 21: An Indian biologist and wildlife conservationist has been named by Time Magazine among this year’s ‘Women of the Year’ in a list that honours “extraordinary leaders” working toward a better, more equal world.
Purnima Devi Barman, 45 is the only Indian woman on Time’s Women of the Year 2025 list released Thursday.
The list of 13 women also includes actor Nicole Kidman and Gisele Pelicot of France who was drugged by her husband and raped by over 70 different men and who became a global icon in the campaign against sexual violence.
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The profile on Barman states that she remembers the day in 2007 when her life changed when she got a call that a tree that was home to a family of greater adjutant storks, was being chopped down in Assam, where she lives.
As she questioned why the tree was being cut, she said “Everyone surrounded me, started whistling at me.”
“But all she could think about were her infant twin daughters. Like the storks, they were so small. Barman was compelled to rescue the birds. Feeling their heartbeats moved her,” the Time profile said.
It quoted her as saying that for the first time, she felt the “importance—the call of nature. From that day, my mission started.”
It noted that at the time, there were an estimated 450 greater adjutant storks left in the region.
“In 2023, thanks to Barman’s work, the stork was moved from endangered status under the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s classification to “near threatened.”
“Their population in Assam has soared to more than 1,800,” it added.
Supporting Barman in her efforts is her “Hargila Army”—a team of “some 20,000 women who protect the birds’ nests and educate others about the beauty of these imposing, nearly 5-ft.-tall scavengers.
The network has been expanding, from Assam to other parts of India and now Cambodia, with schools as far away as France teaching students about her work.
“Today, Barman proudly dons her traditional dress and shawl decorated with images of the storks woven by members of the Hargila Army who are able to earn a living by selling such items,” Time said.
From clothing, songs, or celebrating baby showers for new chicks, “this bird is now a part of our tradition and culture,” she said.
Time said that in deciding who makes the Women of the Year list each year, “we ask ourselves the same question: What are the most significant issues facing women and girls around the world right now? Challenges are abundant, from gender-based violence and attacks on women’s rights to the dangers of a volatile climate.
But everywhere those threats can be found, so too can leaders pushing for change. The 13 women on this year’s list are all, in their own way, working toward creating a better, more equitable world.” (PTI)
