Aframomum atewae

There are a number of threats to forest habitat in West Africa, particularly logging and clearance for expanding agriculture. But it is not known if all the localities where this species has been collected have been impacted. Most of the known localities in Ghana are still extant forest reserves, however, it appears that many if not all may have been impacted to varying degrees (Damnyag et al. 2011). The Atewa Forest Reserve, after which this species is named, is under threat from mining. The government of Ghana has began creating roads into the reserve to enable bauxite mining to start (BirdLife International 2019).

All the collections in Ghana are from forest reserves, e.g. Atewa Range Forest Reserve, Neung Forest Reserve, and Worobong South Forest Reserve. The species is not reported to be in ex situ cultivation (BGCI 2018).

Urgent efforts are required to relocate this species at all of its known localities and to determine its full range and the gather information on the size and trends of the population and to document any threats. Plants and seed should also be collected for ex situ cultivation. If plants still exist in any of the forest reserves, efforts should be made to provide adequate protection to these areas and the species and its habitat should be monitored.