Musa aurantiaca

In areas of Arunachal Pradesh and northern Assam, deforestation and degradation of forest habitat is ongoing (Chatterjee 2008). Major drivers of this land use change are shifting cultivation (jhum), encroachment for grazing and timber extraction, and an increase in commercial agricultural plantations (Chatterjee 2008). In the Siang river valley, rapid agricultural extension is apparent, particularly impacting var. jengingensis (Gogoi 2014). However, some areas within the range continue to provide pristine habitat: for example, there is minimal threat to biodiversity in the west Siang Districts of Arunachal Pradesh, owing to low human population density and a limited presence of agricultural activities, while the forests of the Namdapha National Park are largely untouched (Gogoi 2014, BirdLife International 2019). Although exploitation of this banana for ornamental horticulture does not currently constitute a threat to the species, its presence on the online market is increasing. There is certainly potential for some of these threats, namely commercial agricultural expansion and exploitation, to escalate in severity in the near future; it is therefore recommended that threats to the species are monitored closely.

The genus Musa 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). While a living specimen is known to be cultivated at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (Häkkinen and Väre 2008), it is not known to be conserved ex situ elsewhere (BGCI 2019, Genesys Global Portal on Plant Genetic Resources 2019). As such, gathering of wild germplasm material for ex situ conservation from extant wild plants is a conservation priority. In India, it has been collected from the 700 km² Moiling Sanctuary and the 1,808 km² Namdapha National Park so passive conservation is presumed in these areas (Protected Planet 2019). However, there is no evidence of active management or monitoring of this species.