New Delhi, April 30 -- Indian conservationists Barkha Subba and Parveen Shaikh have won the prestigious 2026 Whitley Awards for their work in protecting the habitat of the Himalayan salamander and conserving nesting sites of the endangered Indian skimmer along the Chambal river through community-led efforts.

Subba, a scientific adviser at the Darjeeling-based Federation of Societies for Environmental Protection (FOSEP), will lead the first coordinated grassroots effort to secure the future of the Himalayan salamander in Darjeeling.

The Himalayan salamander is a lizard-like amphibian species found only in eastern Nepal and the Darjeeling region of India. It is the only species of salamander found in Nepal. Although it resembles a lizard,...