Reviled storks find hope among Indian women protectors  

By Wendellyn Mateo

With a featherless head, a dangling gular pouch and striking pale eyes, and with its foul-smelling drooping and long-skinny legs, the greater adjutant stork is often seen as a bad omen and a carrier of disease – but not to some 20,000 women from India who are committed to protecting this South Asian bird species.

The Hargila Army

Calling themselves the “Hargila Army” – taken from the stork’s locally known name – these rural women from the Indian state of Assam have come together to achieve one goal: To save the Hargila.
Indian biologist and wildlife conservationist Purnima Devi Barman founded the organisation, mobilising thousands of women and bringing conservation to the heart of the cause.

“I’ve always believed that, if given a chance, women can make a big difference in conservation,” Barman said in an interview with The Guardian.

Employing a change in perspective

The greater adjutant is a member of the stork family and can grow up to 1.5 metres tall. However, despite being once abundant in South Asia, its numbers had started dwindling to less than 1,200 in the Indian states of Assam and Bihar, as well as Cambodia.

Its reputation as a bad omen had also led to its plummeting population.

That was until Barman took action after she learned a tree that was home to a family of storks was being cut down back in 2007.

She was first met with hostility when she started educating about the importance of these birds as “nature’s cleaning crew.” Then she realised that changing the attitude of the community towards these birds was the key to saving the species.

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Barman organised public meetings, hoping to inspire a sense of pride among tree owners, who were mostly men, in their work as guardians.

Then, she held “baby showers” during the birds’ breeding season and “happy hatching” ceremonies, tapping into the strengths of community-led initiatives that eventually brought the women together.
Since then, the cause has grown, and so did hope for the Hargila.

Soaring hope for the Hargila

Barman’s efforts were recognised by the United Nations Environment Programme, which conferred her the Champions of the Earth award in 2022 for her “entrepreneurial vision.”

Utilising Assam’s rich weaving tradition, Barman was able to secure funding for looms and train women in weaving the hargila motif into fabrics.

Just this year, she made it to Time Magazine‘s list of “Women of the Year.”

According to Time, the stork was classified as “near threatened” under the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2023 thanks to her efforts, and with the help of the “Hargila Army,” the once-reviled birds now see its population growing to over 1,800.

“Joining the hargila army gave me a chance to show everyone that I could do something meaningful with my life,” said Daivaki Saikia, a young widow from Dadara’s fishing community, as reported by The Guardian.

With the network now expanding throughout India and Cambodia and their efforts gaining attention in schools as far away as France, Barman continues the fight with the Hargila now part of their tradition and culture.

“Conservation is all about uniting people and building ownership,” Barman said.

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