Ficinia borealis

From satellite imagery it appears that Goba town has expanded considerably since 1985 (the earliest date with satellite imagery available) and, as the type specimen was collected in 1982, ongoing residential and commercial expansion can be considered a threat. The collecting locality was described as an ungrazed swampy meadow on a gentle slope and small areas of habitat such as this still appear to occur alongside watercourses. However, agricultural land extends and abuts the watercourses in many places so this too is considered a threat. A study by Legesse et al. (2019) found that over a 29-year period the built environment and agricultural land increased by 80% and 16% respectively in the woreda of Goba. This study, which primarily focused on deforestation, found from community surveys that 98% of respondents linked forest loss to declining surface water volume and a decreasing volume of water in streams and rivers. It is possible that habitats that are drying out might also be a threat to this species which favours damp conditions.

This species is known only from the type collection. The collecting locality is not in a protected area (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN 2023) nor is the species known to be in ex situ cultivation (BGCI 2023). The species requires both in situ and ex situ conservation action in the form of site protection and seed conservation. Research is needed to obtain population data.