Musa rubra

From 2001 to 2018, Myanmar and Thailand lost 7.9% and 9.6% of forest cover, respectively, although most of this loss is from areas in which the species has not been recorded. Within its suspected range in Myanmar and Thailand, forestry and shifting agriculture appear to be the dominant drivers of tree cover loss (GFW 2019). Across the same time frame, loss of tree cover in the Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram was approximately 10%, with forestry representing the dominant contemporary and historical driver of tree cover loss (Chatterjee 2008, GFW 2019). Other drivers of this land use change are shifting jhum cultivation, encroachment for grazing, and an increase in commercial agricultural plantations (Chatterjee 2008). However, the impact of deforestation on members of the Musa genus is somewhat difficult to quantify: while clear-felling or land conversion is likely to be detrimental to the species, wild bananas spring up in transient, often man-made, habitats and thus may benefit from human disturbance to some extent (Simmonds 1962). This species was found growing in a heavily degraded area, indicating a tolerance for disturbed habitat (Maxwell 5–353); on this basis, it is thought that industrial-scale land conversion is more likely to constitute a threat to the species than smaller-scale disturbance. Given the popularity of this species as an ornamental, both locally and internationally (Häkkinen 2003, Joe et al. 2016), it is suspected that collection from the wild may represent a threat; however, further research is necessary to verify this.

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). There are 14 M. rubra germplasm accessions of wild origin held worldwide, of which two were collected from Thailand and the others are of unknown origin. Five accessions are held by the Bioversity International Musa Germplasm Transit Centre (ITC) in Belgium, three by the Corporación Bananera Nacional S.A. (CORBANA) in Costa Rica, two by the Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD) in Guadeloupe, and one by each of AGROSAVIA in Colombia, the Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura Tropical (EMBRAPA) in Brazil, the Institute of Fruit Tree Research, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (IFTR/GDAAS) in China and the Centre africain de recherche sur bananes et plantains (CARBAP) in Cameroon. Thirteen accessions are held under the synonymous name, M. laterita, with one held as M. rubra (Ruas et al. 2017, Genesys Global Portal on Plant Genetic Resources 2019). Twenty one botanical gardens are listed as sites of ex situ conservation for either M. rubra, or its synonym, M. laterita (BGCI 2019). If any gardens hold these plants under separate names, this count may be inflated; however, it is suspected that the species is still held in at least 16 gardens, and it is confirmed to be held at AJCB Indian Botanic Garden in Kolkata (R. Gogoi pers. obs. 2018) and the Dr. H.K. Baruah Regional Botanical Resource Centre in Gauhati University (S. Borah pers. comm. 2021). This species has been collected from at least three National Parks in Thailand, and its range overlaps with other protected areas (Bachman et al. 2011, UNEP-WCMC and IUCN 2019); it is unclear whether active management is apparent in any of these areas. In a preliminary assessment, Joe et al. (2016) assessed M. rubra as Least Concern. It was assessed as Data Deficient in China (Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Chinese Academy of Sciences 2017); however, as the species has been incorrectly recorded from China (Häkkinen 2009), it is likely that this assessment was based on plants belonging to a different species.