In a time of unprecedented, serious and ongoing threat of separation of education from nature, critical pedagogy is expected to play a constructive role in bringing education nearer to students' lives, environment and culture. This paper examines the extent to which students who have completed primary education by following the Kerala state school curriculum that has adopted the principles of critical constructivist pedagogy are able to recognize the local plants, their parts, human (agricultural) activity in relation to them and related pests. A convenient sample of 79 standard VIII students from two classes in a school in Calicut district of Kerala were presented with a picture based group test of local flora and their pests. Findings points to the loss of cultural languages that encode local knowledge of biodiversity among the young population who have completed primary schooling. Paper suggests reconstruction of critical pedagogy itself in light of students' presently disastrous awareness of ecological milieu by provoking students and teachers of critical pedagogy to adjust their thinking and practice of education beyond mere discussion, no thought or gain in eco experience. (Contains 7 tables.)