{"id":38190,"date":"2024-05-01T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/76e43f70-8bf6-4c0d-8036-6ea1263035a4"},"modified":"2024-05-01T23:37:04","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T21:37:04","slug":"whitley-award-2024-winners-meet-the-grassroots-conservations-saving-the-worlds-most-fragile-ecosystems","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/whitley-award-2024-winners-meet-the-grassroots-conservations-saving-the-worlds-most-fragile-ecosystems\/","title":{"rendered":"Whitley Award 2024 winners: meet the grassroots conservations saving the world’s most fragile ecosystems"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Purnima Barman has won the Gold Award at the ‘Green Oscars’ for her work in bringing together more than 10,000 women to save the greater adjutant stork and its wetlands habit in Assam, India. <\/p>

By Daniel Graham\n <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 01 May 2024 at 19:00 PM<\/p>

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The Whitley Awards<\/a>, held annually by the Whitley Fund for Nature<\/a> (WFN), are a celebration of grassroots conservation leaders. The charity’s flagship prizes \u2013 the ‘Green Oscars’ \u2013 recognise individuals for galvanising their communities in saving some of the world\u2019s most fragile ecosystems and for their innovative solutions to the threats to nature.<\/p>

Winners of a Whitley Award are given funding, which enables conservationists to scale-up their work and make a global impact. <\/p>

The 2024 Whitley Award winners have been revealed, with this year’s Gold Award going to Dr Purnima Devi Barman for her influential work with the ‘Stork Sisters’ movement in Assam in north-east India.<\/p>

Prizes were also presented to conservationists from Brazil, Bhutan, Papua New Guinea, Guyana, Cameroon and Nepal.<\/p>

Find out more about the incredible work being done by this year’s winners.<\/p>

Whitley Awards 2024 winners<\/h2>

Dr Purnima Devi Barman<\/h3>
Purnima Barman’s story. Credit: Silverback Films for Whitley Fund for Nature<\/figcaption><\/figure>

India\u2019s Dr Purnima Devi Barman will receive the 2024 Whitley Gold Award of \u00a3100,000 for galvanising a movement of more than ten thousand local women to save the greater adjutant stork and its wetlands habit in Assam. The wildlife biologist has transformed the outlook for the scavenger bird and the local women, known as \u201cStork Sisters,\u201d who have become conservation leaders.<\/p>

Naomi Longa<\/h3>
Naomi Longa’s story. Credit: Silverback Films for Whitley Fund for Nature<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Marine Biologist Naomi Longa and her all-female team of local and indigenous divers and snorkellers who are using AI to help safeguard the coral reefs in their native Papua New Guinea. The women are scaling up a network of locally managed marine areas in local waters in the Coral Triangle, home to 76 percent of the world\u2019s coral reef species.<\/p>

Aristide Kamla<\/h3>