Two Indian women, Praveen Shaikh and Barkha Subba, received the Whitley Award for their conservation efforts protecting the Indian Skimmer and Himalayan salamander.
Two Indian women among six received the Whitley Award, which is also known as the “Green Oscar” award, for local solutions to create a future where communities and wildlife thrive together on a healthy planet. The Indian women who received the awards are Praveen Sheikh and Barkha Subba.
Parveen Shaikh was honoured for her community-led conservation work to protect the endangered Indian Skimmer along India’s river systems. Working with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), she launched the “Guardians of the Skimmer” initiative on the Chambal River.
The project trains local community members as “nest guardians” to monitor and protect bird nesting sites from threats such as sand mining, predators, cattle trampling, pollution, and human disturbance. Her efforts have led to major conservation success: the local Indian Skimmer population increased from about 400 birds in 2017 to nearly 1,000 birds, while nest survival rates improved significantly.
With the 2026 Whitley Award funding, Parveen Shaikh plans to expand the project to Prayagraj in the Ganga Basin, where the rivers Ganga and Yamuna meet. The initiative will include GPS-based nest monitoring, predator-proof fencing, and greater community participation in river conservation.
