India has announced an ambitious plan to assess the extinction risk of around 11,000 species—comprising 7,000 plant species and 4,000 animal species—by 2030 as part of a nationwide biodiversity initiative.

Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh revealed the plan during the launch of India’s National Red List Roadmap at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

He noted that 28 per cent of India’s plant species and 30 per cent of its animal species are endemic to the country. The National Red List Assessment will be the first of its kind national effort, led by the Union Environment Ministry, with the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the Botanical Survey of India (BSI)

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