Environment Minister: Crudia Zeylanica plant not removed from Red Data List

By Ifham Nizam

The Crudia Zeylanica plant has not been removed from the Red Data List as claimed by some of the media, Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said yesterday.

He expressed disappointment at claims that the Crudia Zeylanica plant had been removed from the 2020 Red List.

“But there is no truth in these media reports. The Ministry of Environment emphasises that the Crudia Zeylanica plant has not been removed from the 2020 Red Data List,” he added.

It has been revealed that the Crudia Ceylanica or Pandu Karanda plant near the Daraluwa Railway Station in Gampaha is rare.

 In the Red Data List published in 2012, five extinct plants from Sri Lanka were included in that List.

They are (I) Rinorea decora (Violaceae), (II) Rinorea bengalensis (III) Crudia zeylanica (Fabaceae) (IV) Strobilanthes caudata (Acanthaceae), (V) Blumea angustifolia (Asteraceae). There are five types.

However, in the Botanical  Surveys conducted after 2012, three species of Rinorea decora (Violaceae), Rinorea bengalensis, and Crudia zeylanica (Fabaceae) were re-surveyed in compiling the Red Data List of 2020 Plants.

Crudia zeylanica is one of them. It was this plant that led to a controversy during the construction of the new Expressway. But with the identification of the particular plant, it had been found in several other places, the Minister said, adding that, therefore, the plant was no longer considered an extinct species from Sri Lanka. However, the plant had not been removed from the Red Data List, which has categorised it as a critically endangered plant.

Strobilanthes caudata (Acanthaceae), Blumea angustifolia (Asteraceae), considered extinct in Sri Lanka were included in the 2012 Red List. The two plant species are also listed as endangered in our 2020 Red Data List.

Doona ovalifolia (Dipterocarpaceae) and Alphonsia hortensis (Annonaceae) are included in the 2012 Red Data List of Extinct in the Wild (EW) .

Eugenia xanthocarpa (Myrtaceae) has been currently listed in the 2020 Red Data List as Extinct in the Wild.

 Alphonsea hortensis and Eugenia xanthocarpa are currently cultivated at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya.

Therefore, some media and social media reports that the Crudia Zeylanica has been removed from the 2020 Red Data List were false, Minister Amaraweera said.

“This Red Data List is compiled according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) criteria. Therefore, we cannot add or remove Red Data List as we wish,” the Environment Minister pointed out.