Bulbophyllum adangense

Apart from a few very small coastal settlements and a small coastal hotel complex this island appears to uninhabited. There are a few walking trails and some camping facilities for visitors (Thai National Parks 2019). Coastal forests may also be subject to damage from tsunami effects, storm surges, cyclones and rising sea levels but the elevation range of this orchid is unknown, and it may be found at higher altitudes on the island. Any specific threats to this species are unknown.

Ko Adang falls within the 1,490 km² Tarutao Marine National Park and has ranger station (Protected Planet 2019, Thai National Parks 2019). This orchid has been assessed as Endangered (Chamchumroon 2017), but the categories and criteria used are not specified and it is not in the preliminary check list of threatened plants in Thailand (Pooma 2005). Research is needed to understand the life history and ecology of this species and to identify any specific threats that may be operational, for example, to pollinators or important mycorrhizal associates, also to provide information about the population size, distribution and trends. If additional specimens are found further taxonomic studies may be beneficial as this species closely resembles Bulbophyllum haniffii (Seidenfaden 1979). It is not known to be conserved ex situ (BGCI 2019) and this species belongs to the section Epicrianthes, members of which are notorious for being difficult to grow for longer periods of time (Schuiteman and De Vogel, 2005), as they usually cannot be propagated by division, unlike many other species of the genus Bulbophyllum. This makes ex situ conservation challenging.