Purnima Devi Burman honored with ‘Green Oscar’ Whitley Gold Award 2024 for the second time.

• Dr Purnima Devi Barman, a wildlife biologist from Assam, has won her second Whitley Gold Award, also known as the Green Oscar. She was honored for her conservation effort on the endangered stork, the Hargila or Greater Adjutant Stork and its wetland habitat.
• Dr. Burman was also honored with the award in 2017. Dr. Berman receives the trophy from charity patron Princess Anne – The Princess Royal, sister of King Charles III, at the Royal Geographical Society Awards ceremony in London, United Kingdom.
• Hargila birds, which feed on decaying organic matter, were seen as dirty and unwanted insects.

People used to destroy its nesting places on trees. To protect the bird and its nesting site, Dr. Purnima united the local people and tried to change their attitude towards the bird.

• The population of the bird, which had fallen to around 450, has increased to over 1800 in the areas mainly due to the conservation efforts of Dr. Purnima and her Hargila Sena.
• To thank their efforts, the Government of Assam observed 7 October 2022 as “Hagrila Day”. Dr. Burman’s goal is to double the global population of the hargila bird to 5,000 by 2030.
• She is actively working in India and Cambodia through a network of grassroots activists to achieve this goal. The first Indians to receive the Whitley Gold Award were Archana Godbole and Brad Norman in 2007.  Whitley Award 2024
• The Whitley Fund for Nature is a charity registered in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1993. The charity established the Whitley Gold Awards in 2007. The 2024 prize winner receives GBP 1,00,000.
• Other winners were Naomi LongaPapua New Guinea, Raju SharmaNepal, Aristide Kamala-Cameroon,

04 May 2024

Kuenzang Dorji-Bhutan,Fernanda Abra-Brazil and Leroy IgnacioGuyana.