Indian conservationists Barkha Subba and Parveen Shaikh have recently been awarded the prestigious Whitley Awards, recognising their outstanding work in conserving the Himalayan salamander and the endangered Indian skimmer. The award highlights impactful grassroots conservation efforts from the Global South.
About Whitley Awards
The Whitley Awards, often called the “Green Oscars”, are international conservation awards given by the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), a UK-based charity. These awards recognise local conservation leaders who are working directly at the grassroots level to protect biodiversity.
The award also provides winners with approximately £50,000 in funding over one year, enabling them to scale up their conservation projects and implement community-based solutions to biodiversity loss.
Himalayan Salamander
The Himalayan salamander is a lizard-like amphibian species that, although resembling a lizard, is distinct because it lacks scales and belongs to the amphibian group. It is found in India (especially the Darjeeling region), Nepal, and Bhutan, making it an important species of the eastern Himalayan ecosystem.
It can grow up to 17 cm in length and may live for up to 11 years. One of its unique biological traits is philopatry, which means it returns to its natal breeding sites to reproduce. This makes the species highly sensitive to wetland degradation and habitat disturbance.
The wetlands where it breeds are also considered culturally sacred, often associated with local deities and traditional rituals, which adds an important socio-cultural dimension to its conservation. According to the IUCN Red List, the species is classified as Vulnerable.
Indian Skimmer
The Indian skimmer is a distinctive waterbird belonging to the genus Rynchops in the family Laridae. It is named for its unique feeding behaviour, where it flies low over water bodies and “skims” the surface with its lower mandible to catch fish.
It is primarily found in large sandy rivers, lakes, and marshes, with its distribution spanning India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Myanmar. In India, one of its most important habitats is the Chambal River, which supports a significant breeding population.
The species is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, mainly due to habitat loss, river pollution, and human disturbance along riverbanks
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