The Kerala State Biodiversity Board has begun assessing the collapse risk of whole ecosystems rather than individual species.

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• The Kerala State Biodiversity Board has launched India's first State-level Red List Assessment of Ecosystems.
• The assessment evaluates the risk of collapse of entire ecosystems, using the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems framework.
• The Board is funding the one-year exercise, which covers all 14 districts of Keralam.
• It will assess forests, wetlands, river basins, high-altitude grasslands and coastal habitats.
• The five standardised IUCN criteria will be applied to gauge historical habitat loss, degradation and collapse risk.
• Tropical riparian evergreen forests are flagged as critically endangered, having lost nearly 83% of their extent over the past century.
• Outputs will include an Ecosystem Risk Register, an Ecosystem Typology Atlas and ecological restoration priority maps.
• Ecosystem risk maps will be integrated into State planning portals to guide local restoration.
• Panchayats and Biodiversity Management Committees are expected to undertake restoration work at the local level.

Tags: Keralam, EcosystemRedList, IUCN