Ensete lecongkietii

At Nhan hill, the subpopulation is threatened by granite mining (Luu et al. 2012). Satellite imagery indicates that this mining operation is growing. Within the Ta Kou nature reserve, significant tourism activity is apparent; approximately 300,000 tourists visit the reserve each year and large deposition of rubbish has been observed. The lowland areas of the nature reserve are also impacted by agricultural encroachment; for example, in 2008, over 80 ha of the ecological rehabilitation area was illegally converted to agricultural land (Hoang et al. 2010). This is suspected to represent an even more significant threat at Nhan Hill, which does not benefit from protected status. Additionally, the species is collected from its wild subpopulations at Nhan Hill and Takou mountain for use in local home gardens, and in tourist resorts along Mui Ne beach (Luu et al. 2012).

This species has been collected from the 84.07 km² Tà Kóu nature reserve (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN 2020); passive conservation is presumed here but it is unclear whether active management is apparent. One botanical garden is listed as a site of ex situ conservation for the species (BGCI 2020), however, it is not known to be represented in ex situ conservation elsewhere (Ruas et al. 2017, Genesys Global Portal on Plant Genetic Resources 2020). As such, gathering of wild germplasm material for ex situ conservation is a conservation priority. Given its reported collection from the wild (Luu et al. 2012), raising local awareness of its precarious status may be an important conservation measure for this species, alongside habitat protection against agricultural and mining activity.