Why Keralam launched India’s first Red List Ecosystem Assessment
Myristica of the swamps at Arippa in Kollam district of Kerala | Photo Credit: S. Anandan
Driven by dam building, invasive plantations and escalating climate extremes, Kerala’s tropical coastal evergreen forests in the southern Western Ghats have suffered a devastating 83% loss over the past century. This alarming decline puts these vital habitats on a path to potential collapse within the next 20 to 40 years, earning them Critically Endangered status under International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria.
Other irreplaceable habitats across the state face similar existential threats from rapid urban expansion and rising sea levels, including fine myristica swamps, upland shola-grassland mosaics, and coastal mangroves.
In response to this crisis, the Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) launched a pioneering Red List of Ecosystems (RLE) project. The initiative is a first for any Indian state to shift conservation efforts from protecting isolated species to proactive, country-wide ecosystem management.
The one-year KSBB-funded project is being jointly implemented by the Kerala Forest Research Institute and the Center for Ecology, Taxonomy, Conservation and Climate Change at MES Asmabi College, led by researchers Dr. Amitha Bachan KH and Dr. By Deepa Sivadas.
Systematic evaluation
The scientific initiative systematically assesses the risks of ecosystem collapse in all 14 districts, including high mountain peaks, densely populated midlands and vulnerable coastal stretches.
Dr. N. Anil Kumar, Chairman, KSBB, says the aim is to build strong empirical evidence on environmental degradation through a comprehensive, year-long scientific study. By surveying natural habitats across the state from forests and rivers to coastal belts, the project will identify both climate-induced and human-induced threats.
“Ultimately, this research supports nature-based climate adaptation by repairing fragmented landscapes, analyzing historical losses and protecting natural resilience. True resilience requires us to restore our ecosystems as a whole, which is why we are assessing Red List species alongside this initiative,” he says.
According to Dr. Amithy Bachan, large landscapes such as the Periyar river basin have never been properly classified according to international guidelines, nor have their specific risks of collapse been formally measured. “By evaluating key habitats against five standardized criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List Ecosystem Framework, the team aims to create the state’s first standardized baseline documentation of historical loss, habitat fragmentation and hydrological disturbance. The project addresses this long-standing research gap by identifying risks of collapse and the factors driving it,” he says.
The findings will provide an official risk register, ecosystem typology atlas and ecorestoration priority maps, all of which will be integrated directly into state planning portals. By putting this actionable spatial intelligence in the hands of local biodiversity management committees and panchayats, the project aims to empower grassroots decision-makers. Armed with detailed mapping, local authorities can strengthen natural flood and landslide barriers, manage sustainable development and implement natural adaptation strategies tailored to their particular landscape.
The initiative also gives scientific structure to Keralam’s vision to become India’s most biodiversity-friendly state by driving community-led restoration and climate resilience across all major ecosystems.
Published – 14 Oct 2026 10:42 IST