A botany researcher who developed an AI-powered mobile application to identify invasive plant species in Kerala has been awarded the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) National Award.

N. Alim Yusuf, a researcher at the Malabar Botanical Garden and Institute for Plant Sciences (MBGIPS), Olavanna, Kozhikode, received the honour for his innovative application capable of identifying nearly 100 invasive plant species recorded in Kerala.

He was presented the award at the National ECHO Youth Innovation Summit 2026, held as part of the International Youth Biodiversity Conference in Telangana. As part of the recognition, he will also receive a seed grant of ₹1.5 lakh from the WWF to further develop and scale his project. His application, Neophyte ID, was earlier launched at the Kerala Science Congress held in Kochi in February this year.

Powered by the advanced machine learning model YOLOv11, the app allows users to identify whether a plant is invasive simply by capturing its image. Available in both Malayalam and English, it also integrates geospatial tracking to map the spread of invasive species, offering valuable data for researchers and the Forest department. The Forest department in Kerala has been struggling to control invasive plants such as Senna spectabilis, Lantana camara, and Eupatorium.

For instance, Senna spectabilis, an exotic species from South America, has spread rapidly, covering nearly a third of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary and threatening native biodiversity. Mr. Yusuf said that many people, unaware of the ecological risks, cultivate exotic ornamental plants at home. “There are thousands who grow invasive species without understanding their impact,” he said.

He also pointed to the cat’s claw creeper (Dolichandra unguis-cati) as a particularly harmful invasive species. “At first glance, it looks like a gardener’s dream. Its bright yellow trumpet-shaped flowers and vigorous climbing habit make it a popular ornamental vine in many tropical and subtropical landscapes,” he explained. However, he warned that such species can silently displace native flora before their ecological impact is fully understood.

The idea for the app emerged during a field workshop conducted among tribal communities in Wayanad, where he observed the unintended destruction of native plants while attempting to remove invasive species, inspiring him to develop a technology-based solution.