Survivor of the Lost World- Saving the Himalayan Salamander and its Wetland
India’s Dr Barkha Subba Wins 2026 Whitley Award to Lead First Grassroots Protection for Himalayan Salamander, Wetlands Habitat in Darjeeling
The Executive Member & Adviser at local NGO, Federation of Societies for Environmental Protection (FOSEP), Barkha will lead the first coordinated grassroots effort to secure the future of the Himalayan salamander in Darjeeling. Her project will restore habitat, remove invasive species, screen for the deadly chytrid fungal disease, as well as engage local people in awareness programmes promoting sustainable land use and eco-friendly tourism.
Meeting a salamander "feels like meeting a messenger from deep evolutionary time -
a reminder of how long nature has endured and how quickly we can lose it."
With her Whitley Award, Barkha will focus on seven of the most critical breeding sites of the rare and evolutionarily distinct amphibian, which like all salamanders can regenerate full limbs. Wetland loss, unregulated tourism and tea garden land diversification are altering habitat and shrinking breeding areas. Approximately 30 breeding sites remain locally – many of which lie outside protected areas. Charity Patron, HRH The Princess Royal will present 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.”
Endemic to India, Nepal and Bhutan, the Himalayan salamander, which can grow up to 17 cm in length and live for up to 11 years, was once widely distributed across Darjeeling’s cool, shaded wetlands and forest fringes. Salamanders return to their natal site to breed and lay eggs – a process known as philopatry – which makes them highly vulnerable to change in habitat and an indicator of wetland health.
Image credits: (Bottom left and middle) Bharat Prakash Rai, (Bottom right) Anir Bandattroy
"What keeps me going is what I see on the ground. I see communities standing up for places they love. I see young people choosing to protect rather than exploit. I see forest officials ready to listen and cooperate. I see a species that has survived for millions of years, still trying, still returning home."
The habitat of the Himalayan salamander in the Darjeeling tea landscape, is undergoing complex changes. Cheaper Nepal tea, often marketed as ‘Himalayan tea’, has increased competition for estates at a time when climate change, erratic rainfall and ageing plantations have pushed down yields. Legacy estates are being acquired by companies focused on profits and diversifying into tea tourism to remain economically viable. At the same time, the region faces growing environmental challenges, including landslides, soil erosion, and shrinking freshwater sources linked to development.
The species is now listed as Vulnerable on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as wetlands are increasingly drained, filled, polluted or disturbed. Barkha’s ultimate goal is to create a transboundary framework for wetland protection that extends to Nepal and Bhutan.
Globally wetlands are disappearing faster than any other ecosystem and one fifth could be lost by 2050. They regulate floods and store carbon. When managed effectively, the world’s 1.4 billion hectares of wetlands deliver ecosystem services worth up to $39 trillion (£29 trillion) annually — more than any other type of ecosystem, according to the Convention on Wetlands, the intergovernmental treaty which promotes the protection and sustainable use of wetlands globally.
With her Whitley Award project, Barkha will strengthen partnerships with local communities, tea estate managers, and government agencies to cover the salamander’s breeding sites in: Margaret’s Hope and Nakhapani which are both within tea gardens; Namthing Biodiversity Heritage Site which is on government land; Majhidura which is both forest department and community land; Mirik, which is privately owned; and two sites at Pokhriabong which are shared between the forest department and local communities.
The wetlands where Himalayan salamanders breed are culturally revered water bodies, associated with local deities and rituals. In many villages, disturbing them has historically been discouraged. This respect extends to all life supported by these wetlands, including the Himalayan salamander, according to Barkha, who comes from an Indigenous community in Darjeeling and describes the salamander as resembling “a tiny dragon that swims quietly in a mountain pond.” Many local people began protecting it long before there was funding, recognition, or even encouragement.
Famous for what’s known as “the champagne of teas,” Darjeeling has experienced a boom in tourism to its landscape of misty forests and high-altitude tea estates created in the 19th century by the British Raj to reduce its dependence on Chinese tea. Tea gardens make up about one-fifth of land area in the Darjeeling hills. The region includes the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO world heritage site, and spectacular views of Mount Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain.