Environment Ministry says ’’Crudia Zeylanica’’ plant not removed from Red Data List

The Ministry of Environment claims there is no truth to certain media and social media reports claiming that the Crudia Zeylanica plant has been removed from the 2020 "Red Data List."

In the Red List published in 2012, five extinct plants from Sri Lanka were included in the Red Data List, with Crudia Zeylanica being among them. 

However, in botanical surveys conducted after 2012, three of the listed species were resurveyed when compiling the Red Data List of 2020 plants. 

Crudia Zeylanica is one of those plants. This was the plant that recently generated much controversy due to one of them being found during the construction of the Central Expressway. However, with the identification of this plant, several other plants of the same species were found in several other places, the ministry noted.

Therefore, the plant is no longer considered an extinct species from Sri Lanka. However, the plant has not been removed from the Red Data List. It is now listed in the next category as a critically endangered plant, the statement emphasized. 

The ministry further stressed that the Red Data List is compiled according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) criteria. Therefore, the ministry cannot add or remove plants from the Red Data List as it wishes, the Environment Ministry stressed.