GUWAHATI, July 30: Green Oscar award-winning conservationist Purnima Devi Barman, famed for her ‘Hargila Army’ model to protect and preserve the endangered Greater Adjutant Stork (GAS), has conducted an innovative community conservation training programme in Cambodia to empower women.
Barman conducted a transformative community-led conservation initiative at the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary, a Ramsar site in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve, on Monday for 20 women conservationists and park rangers of that country.
The day-long training was aimed at adapting the Hargila Army model, a women-led conservation movement that has successfully protected the rare Greater Adjutant Stork (Hargila) in Assam, the UNEP Champion of the Earth winner said.
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A landmark outcome of the training was the formation of the Sisters and Brothers of Storks, a new collaborative global network that will work alongside the Hargila Army to conserve the Greater Adjutant globally for all other stork species, fostering a cross-border alliance for inclusive, community-based conservation.
“This is not just about saving a species but about empowering communities, especially women, to become guardians of nature by weaving conservation into the fabric of their culture and daily lives. The energy and resolve of the women of Prek Toal deeply moved me”, Barman said.
The training marks a milestone in South-South cooperation for biodiversity conservation, gender equality in field-based wildlife conservation programmes and strengthening ties between Assam and Cambodia through a shared commitment to ecological protection and women’s leadership, she said.
By integrating traditional knowledge, cultural heritage, and ecological science, the sessions inspired participants to develop community-centered conservation strategies tailored to Cambodia, Barman said.
The highlight of the programme, organised by Cambodia’s Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), was the inauguration of educational posters, designed by Barman, showcasing the behavioural ethogram of the Greater Adjutant stork.
Unveiled by local community members and rangers, these posters symbolise a renewed commitment to conservation awareness and coexistence with storks and wetland wildlife, she said.
The training featured engaging and creative activities, including leadership exercises to map women’s strengths in conservation, cultural integration activities connecting local traditions with environmental values, “textile hunt” exploring nature reflected in fabrics and folk expressions and “web of life” game illustrating biodiversity interdependence.
A collective pledge ceremony affirming dedication to protect Cambodia’s natural and cultural heritage was also taken during the training.
WCS Tonle Sap Landscape programme manager Phearun Sun expressed enthusiasm for future collaborations between the Assam Hargila conservation team and Prek Toal communities.
He highlighted the Hargila Army’s behaviour change model as an inspiration for community-driven conservation efforts to protect the Greater Adjutant Stork. (PTI)
