Stork sister

Conservation biologist Purnima Devi Barman has been turning bird haters into bird lovers and working towards the need for protecting the once-reviled Hargila stork, writes Ranjita Biswas

Purnima Devi Barman

Hargila, roughly translated from Assamese means the bone-swallower. The name concocts images of a scavenger, eating wastes of animals and foraging in garbage dumps. Hence this bird is looked at with disgust by common people and even considered a bad omen. Their nesting trees are cut down and in some instances even poisoned. But in a complete turnaround in Assam, today the Hargila is being adopted as a friend in conserving the environment.

The change in attitude is thanks to the efforts of conservation biologist Purnima Devi Barman who has been consistently working at raising awareness about the Hargila as an essential part of the local biodiversity. She is called Hargila baideo in Assamese which means ‘stork sister’. Presently working with Aranyak, an environment NGO in Guwahati, Purnima recalls, “I went for fieldwork in Dadara Pachariya Singimari village in the Kamrup district near Guwahati when I suddenly saw men cutting down trees where Hargilas were nesting. I was shocked and decided to do something about it.”

That was 13 years ago. Her single-minded mission for the preservation of the endangered Greater Adjutant has now spread to other parts of Assam as well. “When I started work in that village, there were only 26 nests, now there are 270. In entire Assam when we did a survey then there were 400 Hargilas, now there are almost 1,000,” says Purnima. Today Dadara Pachariya Singimari is the largest breeding colony of the Hargila in the world.

The Hargila, Greater Adjutant, belongs to the stork family. Around 19 species exist in the world. Along with the Bortukula, as called locally in Assam, it is one of the biggest in size. In India, it is also found in Bihar, and outside in Cambodia. Interestingly, once they were common even in Bengal and in colonial times it was also depicted in the logo of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation for its value as a scavenger. Hargila’s habitat is wetlands and they nest in trees.

Back then, Purnima’s attempt at spawning a movement to preserve the bird was not easy. “People laughed at me, they passed comments saying I was mad at doing something ‘unladylike’. Wasn’t there some other area to work at than this ugly bird, they wondered aloud?” But Purnima ignored the unkind remarks and took it as a challenge. Sometimes, she took along her two young daughters to let them get introduced to life beyond the city and be sensitised from a young age about the environment. For her movement, Purnima involved the village women by explaining to them how this harmless bird could keep their surroundings clean. She believes that in any movement on environmental preservation, women play a vital role. “They are the ones who keep their houses clean, in villages they are the ones who observe nature at close quarters,” she says. Soon, the idea took off and women willingly took part. They now got the sobriquet of the ‘Hargila army’, an all-women group. Getting involved also meant the women could inspire the families too to look at the Hargila differently. “Now, even the menfolk want to join the Hargila army,” Purnima smiles.

The movement has spread to other parts of Assam too involving more than 10,000 people. Purnima has also initiated innovative ideas to bring the Hargila to the mainstream by incorporating it in the local handicrafts as a motif. Assamese women are skilled in weaving. Now they have been trained to use the bird motif in products like the gamosa, the traditional hand-woven towel, handbags and other household items.

Ever on the lookout for awareness creation, Purnima has also choreographed dances around the Hargila. The performance immediately catches the attention of the people. She has also adopted a local custom called Panchamrit where a pregnant woman in her fifth month is ritually treated to a feast by the mother. In the egg-laying season of the Hargila, around November, women congregate, sing devotional songs in the local shrine and share food, symbolising the place the Hargila has in their community — like a daughter.

Purnima is known internationally for her pioneering work. In 2017, she received the Whitley Award bestowed by the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) which recognises and celebrates effective grassroots conservation leaders across the Global South. She is also the recipient of the Nari Shakti Puraskar awarded by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, in recognition of work for women empowerment, UNDP India biodiversity Award, 2016, the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Earth Hero Award under save the species category 2016, and the Balipara Foundation Green Guru Award, 2016. She is also a member of the global conservation network, Women in Nature Network (WINN) and is the honorary director of WINN, India. But for Purnima, the greatest joy is that she has been able to bring into the public domain the need for conservation of the once-reviled Hargila.