Dr. Purnima Devi Barman has won the prestigious 'Green Oscar' Whitley Gold Award for her remarkable work in conserving the endangered Greater Adjutant Stork (locally known as Hargila).

Presented by the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), the award noted how the numbers of the Hargila in northeast India had dwindled to just 450 birds before Purnima's intervention.

Changing attitudes and galvanizing locals, primarily women, to safeguard nests, and working with her team at the local wildlife NGO Aaranyak, Purnima has helped quadrupled the numbers to more than 1,800!

She leads a team of over 10,000 'Stork Sisters' in Assam, forming a powerful force for conservation.