Guwahati: In a landmark cross-border conservation initiative, the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve witnessed the launch of a women-led movement inspired by Assam’s celebrated Hargila Army.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Cambodia hosted Dr. Purnima Devi Barman—UNEP Champion of the Earth, founder of the Hargila Army, and wildlife biologist with Aaranyak—to lead a pioneering training program for 20 Cambodian women conservationists and park rangers. The day-long session aimed to adapt the Hargila Army’s successful model of community-driven protection of the endangered Greater Adjutant Stork to Cambodia’s wetlands.
Dr. Barman unveiled a series of educational posters featuring a behavioural ethogram of the Greater Adjutant, developed to boost awareness and inspire coexistence with storks and wetland wildlife. Community members and rangers inaugurated the posters, marking what participants called a new chapter in grassroots conservation in Prek Toal.
The training blended science with cultural traditions, featuring leadership exercises to highlight women’s strengths in conservation, a “textile hunt” linking fabrics with nature motifs, cultural integration activities, a “web of life” game to show biodiversity interdependence, and a collective pledge to protect Cambodia’s natural heritage.
“This is not just about saving a species,” said Dr. Barman. “It’s about empowering communities, especially women, to become guardians of nature by weaving conservation into the fabric of their culture and daily lives.”
An important outcome of the event was the creation of the “Sisters and Brothers of Storks”, a new global network that will collaborate with the Hargila Army to protect Greater Adjutants and other stork species across borders.
Mr. Phearun Sun, WCS Tonle Sap Landscape Program Manager, hailed the initiative as a milestone: “The Hargila Army’s behaviour change model is an inspiration. With this partnership, we hope to build a powerful community-driven movement for Cambodia’s storks and wetlands.”
The program is being seen as a breakthrough in South-South cooperation, advancing both biodiversity protection and women’s leadership in conservation, while forging stronger ecological ties between Assam and Cambodia.
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