Noted environmentalist of Assam Purnima Devi Barman, has been selected for the Nari Shakti Puraskar2017 to be conferred by President of India on March 8.
The award ceremony celebration will be held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
She won the Whitley Award also known as the Green Oscars last May for creating an all-female network to save the Greater Adjutant stork, known in India as Hargila, and its wetland habitat in Assam.
The Hargila storks are large scavenger birds with a global population of 1,200, 75 per cent of which are found in Assam.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), their total population is estimated to be between 1,200 and 1,800 and around 800 birds are found in Assam and at least 156 birds in Bihar.
Purnima Devi Barman has mobilised her all- female local network towards sustainable livelihoods through weaving traditional Assamese scarves and saris that are then sold to raise funds for the conservation project, through her association with NGO Aaranyak.
