Bouleau transcaucasien

This species is threatened by local grazing. This birch species is very slow-growing, so grazing of apical growth by both wild and domesticated animals removes the plants ability to flower and produce seed. Grazing destroys the fruiting bodies located near the growing tips and it is unlikely that the fragile seed can withstand animal digestive acids and pass out in faeces intact (seeds are not winged so cannot be dispersed by wind). Grazing is having clear implications on the small subpopulations of this species in Georgia, a country with a poor economy and little control of forestry and farming activities. In Georgia, plants are also reported as at risk due to forestry activities and forest fires.

B. medwediewii is reported as held in 62 ex situ collections (BGCI 2017). It is self-compatible. Population studies and study into the impact of local threats across this species' range are advised to devise appropriate conservation measures. This work is planned for 2017 in Georgia.

This species was previously listed as Rare in Turkey and indeterminate globally in the 'European Red List' (1991) and as Endangered in Georgia in the 'Rare, Endangered and Vulnerable Plants of the Republic of Georgia'. The Red List of the Endemic Plants of the Caucasus (2014) lists this species as Vulnerable under criterion B1ab(iii,iv). This was based on a provisional assessment undertaken in 2005 at an IUCN/SSC Global Tree Specialist Group workshop in Tbilisi.