Billbergia viridiflora

Natural habitats within the range of this species have been severely altered and degraded. Very little primary forest remain and forests in the region are highly fragmented. Remnants are mostly restricted to small areas where steep terrain offer protection. In parts of the range, forests have been almost completely destroyed and substituted by scrub and secondary communities (Valero et al. 2001). The resilience of this species to anthropogenic disturbance is unknown. The taxon was collected in a disturbed forest of Belize, where it was reported to be rare. Continued clearing of forest for timber, road construction, expansion of settlements, free roaming cattle, conversion to agricultural land, collection of fuelwood, valuable plants by local people, industrial development, exponential growth of the population, and agricultural expansion are ongoing threats to the native flora (Valero et al. 2001). In Mexico, the volume of illicitly traded epiphytes in local markets exceeds legal exports and comprises many species (Toledo-Aceves and Wolf 2008). Claims that plants are artificially propagated are often dubious. The long life cycle of bromeliads increases the incentive to collect wild specimens for direct sale. The species is a very decorative green flowered species. The taxon is widely available for sale but reported to be rare in cultivation. The impact of extraction on the population is unknown. Increased frequency of drought may increase the frequency and intensity of forest fires which appears to be detrimental to many bromeliad species (Benzing 2000, Ariani et al. 2004, Filho and Leme 2006).

There are no known conservation measures specifically for this species, however it has been collected within the Runaway Creek and Cockscom Basin Wildlife Reserves. Samples of seed should be collected and stored as an ex situ conservation measure. The population should be monitored at regular intervals and its dynamics studied.