UK charity, the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), recognised Parveen Shaikh with a 2026 Whitley Award to expand protection for the Indian Skimmer and her model of community-led riverine bird conservation to Prayagraj in the Ganga Basin.
“Seeing small successes, such as a protected nest or a chick taking its first flight reminds me that consistent effort can create real change.”
India is home to more than 90 percent of the global population of about 3,000 Indian Skimmers, known for their bright orange bills and for skimming the surface of rivers by inches to catch fish. The birds nest on sandbars, mid river islands that appear seasonally. Even small changes in river flow patterns can result in complete nesting failure.
Parveen’s community-led “Guardians of the Skimmer’ initiative on the Chambal River has led to significant recovery in the endangered species. Through the recruitment of local nest guardians and continuous scientific monitoring, nest survival has increased to 27 percent from 14 percent with the local population growing to about 1,000 individuals last year from 400 in 2017.
With Whitley Award funding, the scientist and her team at Bombay Natural History Society, will strengthen protection at Chambal and expand the initiative to key sites around Prayagraj, where the Ganges and the Yamuna rivers converge, in Uttar Pradesh, northern India.
Prayagraj represents one of the most cultural and spiritually significant cities in India. Conservation efforts here must navigate pressures from pilgrimage-related disturbance, boat traffic, fishing, and pollution. Prayagraj hosts the Kumbh Mela, one of the world’s largest religious gatherings. Last year, the Uttar Pradesh government said that 660 million people visited during the festival.
Charity Patron, HRH The Princess Royal presented the Whitley Award on 29 April at the Royal Geographical Society. The event was livestreamed to YouTube. WFN Ambassador Sir David Attenborough said conservation work has never been more urgent. “We need the work of Whitley Award winners to succeed and to help them to whatever extent possible.”
“Local guardians help identify new sandbars, monitor nests, and prevent disturbance during the breeding season. Some now proudly refer to the skimmers as “our birds,” which reflects a growing sense of ownership. This change in perception from indifference to stewardship has been one of the most meaningful outcomes of the project.”
Once widely distributed across Southeast Asia, the Indian Skimmer has disappeared from most of its historic range amid the large-scale degradation of river habitats. Globally wetlands are disappearing faster than any other ecosystem with rivers showing an increasingly disrupted water cycle. Only one-third of river basins had normal conditions in 2024, according to a UN report, with two-thirds either dangerously low in water or unusually high.
At both distinct project sites, Chambal and Prayagraj, Parveen and her team will appoint and provide incentives to local nest guardians for continuous protection of the bird to monitor nesting outcomes. They will install predator proof fencing in vulnerable river stretches. In Chambal, they will also experiment with artificial nesting platforms.
The new landscape differs from Parveen’s existing work at the Chambal Sanctuary, which is home to the biggest breeding population of Indian Skimmers. The sanctuary along the River Chambal, a tributary of the Yamuna, is a 600 km protected area of riverine habitat, sandbanks, ravines and sand bars. Parveen’s team have trained and mentored more than 30 nest guardians there to help address the challenges for skimmers in this riverscape – where nesting colonies are vulnerable to predators, such as free-ranging dogs and jackals, as well as trampling by cattle.
At Prayagraj, which is home to significant breeding populations of the Indian Skimmer as well as River Lapwings and Little Terns, the project will cover sites where birds face pressures from human disturbance, boat traffic, fishing, and pollution. Religious practices, including the immersion of ashes, along with other organic matter in the river, can attract scavengers such as dogs and crows, increasing predator activity near nesting colonies.
Protecting nests will require real time monitoring in both locations which involves use of GPS mapping, and systematic data collection for rapid response, and close coordination with local communities. Local guardians will be given incentives for their conservation service to provide a vital source of income while fostering stewardship.
One of three species of skimmers – which include the Black Skimmer and the African Skimmer – the wide sandy rivers that the Indian Skimmer depends on for breeding are increasingly either dammed by hydroelectric projects or under pressure from sand mining, pollution and overfishing. The bird survives only in India and Bangladesh with a few records from Nepal and Pakistan.
HIGH-RES IMAGES AVAILABLE HERE
NOTES TO EDITORS – WHITLEY FUND FOR NATURE
The Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is a UK charity supporting grassroots conservation leaders in the Global South. Since its creation in 1993, it has channelled £26 million to over 230 conservationists working across 84 countries.
An early pioneer in the sector WFN was one of the first charities to channel funding directly to projects led by in-country nationals. Its rigorous application process identifies inspiring individuals who combine the latest science with community-based action.
WFN’s flagship prizes – Whitley Awards – are presented by charity Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, at a prestigious annual ceremony in London at the Royal Geographical Society (RGS). Winners receive funding, training, and profile boost, including short films.
The 2026 Whitley Awards Ceremony took place on Wednesday 29 April at the RGS and streamed live to YouTube. The other 2026 Whitley Award winners are:
- Dr Marina Kameni from Cameroon who is reviving endemic amphibian populations in Southwest Cameroon, a global hotspot for threatened amphibians, including the world’s largest frog.
- Dr Moreangels Mbizah from Zimbabwe who is expanding a coexistence model of conservation in northern Zimbabwe that allows the movement of lions between protected areas and community land.
- Dr Paola Sangolquí from Ecuador who is protecting the nesting sites of the Critically Endangered Galápagos Petrel from invasive species.
- Dr Issah Seidu from Ghana who is saving guitarfish along Ghana’s western coastline and advancing plans to create the country’s first Locally Managed Marine Area.
- Dr Barkha Subba from India who is leading the first grassroots movement to protect the Himalayan salamander and its fragile wetland habitat in the Darjeeling Himalaya, West Bengal.
Every year, a past Whitley Award winner is chosen to receive the Whitley Gold Award, which has increased to £120,000, in recognition of their outstanding contribution to conservation. The Whitley Gold Award recipient also acts as a mentor to Whitley Award winners and an international ambassador for conservation success.
The 2026 Whitley Gold Award winner is Indonesia’s Farwiza Farhan who is accelerating community protection of water catchments in the Leuser Ecosystem in Sumatra, where devastating storms and floods last year compounded more than three decades of deforestation.
FOR INTERVIEW REQUESTS AND INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Carol Roussel, Head of Media, Whitley Fund for Nature
T: 07379 019 804
Josephine Higgins, Head of Communications, Whitley Fund for Nature
