Bulbophyllum aphanopetalum

In the Vogelkop Peninsula of Indonesian West Papua, the taxon is threatened by ongoing selective logging (Global Forest Watch 2016). There are also developments and infrastructure planned as part of the transmigration program (Petocz 1989). Certain populations could also be under threat from volcanic eruptions, such as those on Karkar Island (Johns 1986). Karkar Island belongs to the New Britain-New Ireland Lowland Rain Forest habitat, most of which had been largely logged and replaced by forest plantation, coconut or oil palm according to Wikramanayake et al. (2002). However, much forest appears to remain on Karkar Island, and indeed one collection does fall within the Bagiai protected area. In Orchidées indigènes de Nouvelle-Calédonie (1995), none of the New Caledonian species are threatened, but there are warnings that the rate of development on the island may start to require the consideration of protection measures, such as the creation of well defined conservation reserves. This concern seems to have been well founded, as Wikramanayake et al. (2002) state that both the rain and dry forests on New Caledonia have suffered large losses from logging, mining, ranches and cattle grazing. Only 10% of rain forest is undisturbed, with only 2% of dry forests remaining intact. Also, less than three percent of both habitats is within effectively managed protected areas. Fire is an important threat on New Caledonia (Murienne 2009, Conservation International 2011). Open pit mining is still a concern, and an increase in demand for nickel would threaten some of the remaining forests on New Caledonia, for which mining is a major source of income (Murienne 2009). Invasive species are often an issue on islands, and New Caledonia is no exception, with introduced deer retarding forest habitat regeneration (Murienne 2009).

There are no conservation measures in place specifically for this species, but it will probably benefit from measures such as the New Caledonia Dry Forest Conservation Initiative begun in 2001 (Murienne 2009). Also, 6 out of 29 collections used for this assessment from New Caledonia were within protected areas and 25 out of the 29 were found within Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) that are sites of global biodiversity significance based on vulnerability and irreplaceability (Conservation International 2011) and could be the basis for protected areas in the future. Research and collection efforts are recommended to establish the true overall geographical distribution, current population size and trends, as well as measure the impact of current threats.