The Environment Ministry has completed the preparation of a new edition of the Red Data Book on Endangered fauna and flora in Sri Lanka, which is  compiled every five years.

They said the last time a red data book was published in Sri Lanka was in 2012 and it was scheduled to be compiled every five years.

When Minister Mahinda Amaraweera assumed duties as the Environment Minister a year ago, he advised the officials of the Ministry to compile the Red Data Book as soon as possible.

As per his direction, the Biodiversity Unit of the Ministry of Environment has completed the Red Data Book.

The average red data book classification contain nine segments.

Extinct (EX), extinct - Extinct in the Wild (EW), Extinct endangered - Critically Endangered (CR), Extinct at high risk - Endangered (EN), Endangered Species - Vulnerable Species (VU), Endangered -Near Threatened (NT), Least Concern (LC), Data Deficient (DD) and Unclassified.

The launching of the new edition is scheduled to take place on Friday (Sept. 3) at the Ministry under the patronage of the Minister and the participation of Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)