Cordyline minutiflora

The habitat where this species has been recorded appears from satellite imagery to be largely intact. There is logging, agricultural and mining activity within its range, but it is not known whether this specifically impacts upon this species (Filer 1994). The Lorentz National Park which now covers an area where this species was recorded in the past was noted, in a 2015 report, to be under review for a new road development and in need of improved management (UNESCO 2015). It has been estimated that forest is currently being removed or degraded at the rate of 1.4% per year in Papua New Guinea (Bishop Museum 2015) with the main drivers being identified as subsistence agriculture, logging, forest fires, plantations (mainly of oil palm) and mine-related forest clearance (Shearman et al. 2008).

One record of this species was collected from what is now the Lorentz National Park. This protected area (2.35 million ha) is the largest in South-East Asia and it incorporates a continuous ecological transect from mountain peaks to the coast, including extensive lowland wetlands (UNESCO 2015). The other locality of collection is thought to be in the Bismarck mountain region, which has only a very small area with any protected status. Further research is needed to determine the current population status and trends, the life history and ecology and whether there are any specific threats to this species. The Bishop Museum has a Papuan Plants Project which aims to organise an international effort to develop a comprehensive checklist of the flora of Papua New Guinea and to undertake botanical surveys to augment botanical collections (Bishop Museum 2015). This may provide further information about this species in the future.