Bridging gaps in plant conservation: The national red list assessment initiative in India

• Plant species assessment and conservation initiatives in developing countries such as India face several constraints and implementation challenges. • Out of ∼55,726 recorded plant species in India, only around 6.33% have been assessed for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. • The National Red List Assessment (NRLA) is a newly launched initiative by the Government of India, announced during the World Conservation Congress (IUCN, 2025) , aimed at creating a national inventory of threatened species consistent with the IUCN Red List assessment criteria. • The project aims to assess the extinction risk of nearly 7000 plant species by 2030. • There is a need to integrate genomics in the country's plant conservation efforts and capacity building through collaborations.