Hedychium glabrum

Forests in the region have suffered from intense deforestation clearance and fragmentation. Most primary forest has been degraded and only small intact fragments remain. Thin pine forest (e.g., Pinus yunnanensis) has replaced the original vegetation in many places. Current threats to the native flora include land clearing for shifting cultivation, poppy cultivation, and logging. Fallow lands take more than thirty years to regenerate into forest, although some ecosystem function as wildlife habitat is restored in a much shorter time. If degradation is extensive, then forest regeneration will not occur at all, and the vegetation consists of a subclimax of Imperata grasslands or the exotic weed Eupatorium adenophorum (Carpenter 2001). The ability of this taxon to persist and regenerate in disturbed and secondary forest is unknown.

Gingers have enjoyed popularity as an ornamental plant in Asia and the Far East for centuries. Ornamental gingers have rapidly increased in popularity in the western world in the past few years (West Demmy and Burch 1998), which has promoted an increase in illegal collecting by unscrupulous nurserymen (Larsen 2003). This taxon is described as an extremely attractive species with particularly fine foliage and flowers. The taxon has been recently introduced in cultivation by specialist growers. Limited stocks and slow propagation may increase the incentive of collecting rhizomes in the wild. The impact of potential collection for the horticultural trade on the population is unknown.

There is evidence to assume that global warming should reduce available land to plants adapted to mountain habitats, especially those in high altitudes (Scarano 2007). How this will impact the population of this species is unknown.

This species has been collected within two conservation units, including in the Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve, where large tracts of monsoon forest remain. The taxon is probably cultivated at the Xishuangbanna Botanical Garden.

Further conservation efforts are needed in the region due to the very high rate of habitat loss and degradation. Pockets of existing habitat where the taxon occurs, especially on the lower montane slopes, should be protected and restoration activities should be undertaken wherever possible. Efforts to establish an integrated conservation and sustainable development program in parts of the region are being made (e.g., the Yunnan Great Rivers Project). Surveys and censuses should be conducted to determine the range and size of the population. Micropropagation protocols should be urgently developed for this species to relieve potential pressure from collection for the horticultural trade on the population. Seeds should be collected for germplasm conservation.