Kerala to have its own regional red list of birds

Kerala to have its own regional red list of birds

Subject: Environment

Section: Biodiversity

Context: Kerala will soon have its own red list of birds

Concept:

• According to the global IUCN red list, Kerala has 35 threatened species of birds. In that, Red-headed vulture and White-rumped vulture are critically endangered. Steppe Eagle, Banasura Chilappan and Nilgiri Chilappan are endangered and 11 species are vulnerable.
• Kerala will soon have its own red list of birds. The Kerala Bird Monitoring Collective led by Kerala Agricultural University and the Bird Count India will conduct the regional red list assessment. Once it gets ready, Kerala will be the first State to have a region-specific red list of birds. Assessment will be done on the basis of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines.
• The IUCN guidelines for preparing the red list have five main criteria. The population size reduction measured over 10 years or three generations is one of the major guidelines. Geographic range on the basis of extent of occurrence or area of occupancy is another. Small population size and decline, very small or restricted population, and quantitative analysis indicating the probability of extinction in the wild are the other criteria.
• The Kerala Bird Atlas accounts for nearly three lakh records of 361 species, including 94 very rare species, 103 rare species, 110 common species, 44 very common species, and 10 most abundant species. According to the atlas, most of the endemics are concentrated in the Western Ghats while the threatened species are cited mostly along the coast.

What is a redlist?

• Established in 1964, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species has evolved to become the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global extinction risk status of animal, fungus and plant species.
• The IUCN Red List is a critical indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity. The IUCN Red List is used by government agencies, wildlife departments, conservation-related non-governmental organisations (NGOs), According to the list, biodiversity is declining. Currently, there are more than 138,300 species on The IUCN Red List, with more than 38,500 species threatened with extinction, including 41% of amphibians, 37% of sharks and rays, 34% of conifers, 33% of reef building corals, 26% of mammals and 14% of birds.