The endangered Crudia Zeylanica plant, which was the centre of a recent controversy in Sri Lanka, is to be added to the extinction category of the National Red List of 2020.
Environment activists highlighted the dangers posed to the endemic plant which was found in Gampaha, due to the construction of the Kurunegala expressway.
Following this, the Department of National Botanic Gardens has decided to include the plant in the National Red List 2020.
The Crudia Zeylanica plant will be included alongside the Rinorea bengalensis, Rinorea decora plants, which are also reported to be endangered plant species in the country.
According to the Ceylon Today, Director General at the Department of National Botanic Gardens, Dr. Shelomi Krishnarajah said a total of three new plant species which were found in the extinction category of the National Red List were found in the year of 2020.
She said the three plants will be included in the National Red List 2020, with the aim of conserving these threatened Flora.
Krishnarajah said a total of five plants were added to the extinction list in the year of 2012 and in the span of eight years it has been possible to find three out of them.
She further said that a total of 3087 plant species are in the Red List and 625 out of them are labelled as endangered and 295 as critically endangered. (NewsWire)