Cyanotis ake-assii

Human activities have reduced, degraded, and fragmented the West Sudanian Savanna ecoregion. As an ecoregion it is considered critical/endangered. The human population density is high over much of the ecoregion. Population densities of 50 to 100 persons/km² are found widely. There are considerable pressures on the land from seasonal farming, grazing animals, cutting trees and bushes for wood, burning woody material for charcoal, and from wild fires. Climatic desiccation is a further threat, exacerbating human pressures, as the ability of the ecosystem to recover from overuse is reduced when there is little rainfall. Although many protected areas exist, most are under-resourced "paper parks" with little active enforcement on the ground.

It is unknown to what extent these threats are affecting Cyanotis ake-assii and a study of satellite images combined with specimen localities suggests that present habitat conditions in the four previous collecting localities are reasonable, and therefore that these subpopulations are likely to be extant despite the collections having been made over 50 years ago. The species is known to grow on “bowals” which are considered unsuitable for agriculture and are common throughout southern Mali, further suggesting that suitable habitat for this species remains to the present day.

The species is not known to be represented in any protected areas. Cyanotis ake-assii is on the target species list for the Millennium Seed Bank Project and was included in the Mali Collection Guide compiled by the Species Targeting Team. Seed for banking (in Mali and the UK), however, has not been collected as yet.