Nov 28, Colombo: The updated 2021 National Red List on the conservation status of Sri Lankan birds was released recently at the Ministry of Environment under the chairmanship of Nazeer Ahmed, the Minister of Environment and Dr. Anil Jasinghe, Secretary of the Ministry of Environment.

Minister Ahmed participating in the event, said that protecting the ecosystem is the responsibility of all Sri Lankans.

“That responsibility is something that is assigned to all of us as citizens. I think it is a fundamental fact to protect the birds native to our country. The Red List is one of the best indicators of the health of a species because it is an assessment that takes into account many factors internal and external to a species’ survival,” he said.

Therefore, the Red List can be used to plan conservation actions as well as an indicator to monitor the effectiveness of natural resource management, he said.

The Minister further said that the government will provide full support to protect the environment as well as birds and forest resources.

Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe said that it is a valuable task to launch such a conservation action for the birds that live in a small island like Sri Lanka. Out of the 244 assessed species of birds, 81 species are threatened with extinction. He added that it is a valuable task to present the included data about the threatened and vulnerable and threatened birds through the Red List.

Dr. Anil Jasinghe said that in the future, efforts will be made to implement programs to restore the population of endangered species of birds, to prepare a research agenda, and to implement action plans in related fields.

Professor Devaka Weerakoon of University of Colombo, other ministry secretaries and staff participated in this event.