Environment News

First Ecosystem Red List Assessment - Kerala

October 18 , 2026 14 hrs 0 min 48 0

Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) launched India’s first State-level Red List Assessment of Ecosystems (RLE) project.
The one-year project is jointly conducted by Kerala Forest Research Institute and MES Asmabi College to assess ecosystem collapse risks across all 14 districts.
Tropical riparian evergreen forests in the southern Western Ghats have lost 83% of their area over the past century and are classified as Critically Endangered under International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria.
The assessment covers forests, rivers, Myristica swamps, shola-grassland eco systems and coastal mangroves using five standardised IUCN criteria.
The project will identify threats, guide ecosystem restoration and climate adaptation and support sustainable development.