[100 Emerging Women Leaders] Purnima Devi Barman is building an all-women army to protect endangered species in Assam

Assam is one of the largest of the three breeding grounds for Greater Adjutant stork species. Often considered a disease carrier or a bad omen bird, the bird’s population is steadily declining in the state due to the widespread destruction of wetlands where they mostly breed. 

Purnima Devi Barman, a wildlife conservationist, is on a mission to make people understand the value of the bird as a natural scavenger. She leads the ‘Hargila army’, an all-women conservation team, which helps her spread the word. Almost 10,000 women belonging to the rural areas of Assam are a part of this team. 

Purnima strongly believes that one doesn’t need a degree to become a conservationist. 

“These women thought their duties were confined only to their houses. But with the Hargila Army, we are trying to make them understand their role in protecting the nature,” she says.

Purnima’s grandmother and her college professors played a huge role in imbibing the love for nature in her. After completing her Master’s in Zoology from Guwahati University, she joined a Guwahati-based wildlife NGO called Aaranyak.

However, Purnima’s parents were not comfortable with her being a conservationist on the field as a young woman. They wanted her to get married at the earliest and asked her to pursue her career further only if her husband allows. Luckily, for Purnima, her husband was very supportive.

After giving birth to her two daughters, Purnima went back to academia and began working on her PhD thesis. But a distress call from a small village changed her tracks.

“A villager had cut off a huge tree which bore the nest of some Greater Adjutant storks. There were baby birds lying dead or suffocating on the ground and the bigger ones were circling around the fallen tree. As a mother, this entire incident broke my heart. When I tried to put some sense into the person who had cut off the tree, he ganged up with his neighbours to mock me,” Purnima recalls.

This made her realise that while a PhD might advance her career, it will not fulfil the true purpose of her life--conserving the environment. She decided to let go of her academic career and went back to the field to actively change the mindset about the endangered species. 

But Purnima faced the brunt of being a woman in a profession that comes with constant travelling and on-field duties. From male conservationists taunting her to deep-seated superstitions, she felt that many times people turned a deaf ear to her. 

But what kept her going?

“Rather than fighting with people, I reflected within myself and tried to improve myself as a leader. When I began working with women in rural areas, I could understand the purpose of my work better. Here I was, a well-educated, qualified woman struggling to get heard. I could only imagine the kind of struggles with identity and purpose the women in rural areas were facing. I decided to bring them together and make them understand their role in society and the environment,” Purnima says. 

The Hargila Army has helped the village communities to plant almost 45,000 saplings near stork-nesting trees and wetland areas where the endangered birds lay eggs. They also regularly organise cleaning drives on the banks of rivers and in wetlands to reduce pollution.

Advising women leaders, Purnima says, “Every woman needs to identify her biggest strength and use it to pursue her passion.”