Freycinetia cochleatisperma

The lowland forest of West New Britain was noted to be threatened by large scale timber operations (Sekhran and Miller 1995). Forest has been replaced by plantations, for example palm oil plantations, and there is an active New Britain Palm Oil company with plantations in West New Britain (New Britain Palm Oil Limited 2016). In West New Britain there are also large plantations of Eucalyptus (R. Johns pers. comm. 2016). The island also has active volcanoes (WWF 2016). The scope and severity of these threats on this species are uncertain but its lowland forest habitat has certainly declined in extent and quality. It is suspected from the studies on bird species on the island that the impacts may have been considerable. Logging in the 20 years prior to 2008 had reportedly left at least 10 birds close to extinction and if this rate of deforestation continues it has been suggested that most forest below 200 m will be gone by 2060 (RSPB 2008).

There have been no collection from protected areas. Little information is available about this species and further surveys, research and monitoring are needed, particularly to confirm the current distribution. Creation of protected areas and raising awareness of the threats to this species also needed. Biodiversity hotspots have been identified including in some localities where this species has been found. There was one national-level REDD+ (United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in Developing countries) pilot project in West New Britain Province and investments in conservation are reported (University of the South Pacific 2012). It is hoped that this will lead to conservation action that will benefit this species in the future.