Dioscorea abyssinica

Potential threats to Dioscorea in tropical Africa include habitat loss through deforestation, and expanding human settlements and associated agriculture. Additionally, they are threatened through abandonment as crop plants: reduced interest in cultivation of Dioscorea species will also likely reduce interest in their conservation management. These threats are not considered to have a major impact on this species, however, they should be monitored over a period of time to ensure that their severity does not escalate (Omosowon 2018).

The genus Dioscorea is listed in Annex I of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) which aims to guarantee sustainable agriculture and food security through the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, as well as ensuring the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of their use (FAO 2009). There are 91 D. abyssinica germplasm accessions held by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Nigeria; these accessions were collected from wild plants in Benin (Genesys Global Portal on Plant Genetic Resources 2019). It is not known to be conserved ex situ elsewhere (BGCI 2019). Within the Parc National de Korup in Cameroon and the Forêt de Wari Maro in Benin, where D. abyssinica is known to occur, systematic monitoring of species is carried out. It occurs in multiple other protected areas across its range, so passive conservation is presumed in these localities (Protected Planet 2019); however, there is no evidence of active management or monitoring in these areas. Dioscorea abyssinica was listed as Least Concern in a preliminary conservation assessment for the flora of Burkina Faso (Schmidt et al. 2017).