Kerala Empowers Local Committees to Protect Endangered Species

As of 2025-10-27T12:24:05+00:00, the Kerala government has taken a significant step towards decentralized conservation by empowering district-level Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) to formally designate locally significant species for priority protection.

An order issued by the Environment department last month authorizes the BMCs in district panchayats to identify, propose, and notify flora and fauna that are locally threatened, endemic, or hold deep cultural importance as "official species." This new framework aims to ensure legal protection and promote conservation efforts rooted in local knowledge and participation.

The initiative, based on recommendations by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board, seeks to safeguard region-specific biodiversity, revive traditional ecological knowledge, and prevent the extinction of local species through a bottom-up governance model. Each BMC will be responsible for regularly monitoring the identified species and habitats, maintaining updated records, and submitting periodic reports to the state board on their protection status and threat mitigation efforts.

The pilot phase of this reform is currently underway in Kasaragod and Kozhikode districts, where BMCs have already declared certain species deserving urgent protection. Officials state that these districts have successfully demonstrated how local expertise and community involvement, when combined with statutory backing, can drive faster and more sustainable results than conventional top-down conservation models.

With the success of the pilot, the Kerala government plans to expand this community-driven conservation model across the state in the coming months, further empowering local bodies to play a greater role in biodiversity protection.