Banane rose

Within the native range of the species, forestry is the dominant driver of tree cover loss (GFW 2020) and the region has witnessed excessive logging historically (Chatterjee 2008). Other drivers of this land use change are shifting cultivation (jhum), encroachment for grazing, and an increase in commercial agricultural plantations, especially in the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys of Assam (Chatterjee 2008). However, the specific 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). Felling of trees along narrow stretches of roadside may actually provide suitable habitat for some Musa species (Kiew 1987) and the Pink Velvet Banana most commonly grows in seral sites such as roadsides, near railway tracks, near drainage, near paddy fields and backyards. In fact, this species is uncommon in forest habitat compared to other members of the genus (Joe and Sabu 2016). As such, it is thought that industrial-scale land conversion is more likely to constitute a threat to this species than smaller-scale disturbance. Given its popularity in global horticulture (Häkkinen and Väre 2008) and its use as a food by local tribes (Subbaraya 2006), it is presumably collected from the wild. However, it is suspected that this activity does not represent a significant threat to the species.

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). This species has been collected from the 200.0 km² Namdapha National Park, and its native range overlaps with multiple protected areas (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN 2020); where it occurs within protected areas, passive conservation is presumed. Six germplasm accessions of unknown wild origin are held worldwide: two are held by the Bioversity International Musa Germplasm Transit Centre (ITC) in Belgium, and one is held by each of the Embrapa Mandioca e Fruitcultura Tropical (EMBRAPA) in Brazil, AGROSAVIA in Colombia, the Corporación Bananera Nacional S.A. (CORBANA) in Costa Rica, and the Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD) in Guadeloupe. Two further wild accessions are held by the ITC, but these were collected from outside the native range in China and Japan (Ruas et al. 2017, Genesys Global Portal on Plant Genetic Resources 2020). At least 83 botanical gardens are listed as sites of ex situ conservation for this species (BGCI 2020); however, given the promotion of the former subspecies markkuana to species status (Hareesh et al. 2017), it is possible that some of these collections may now be recognised as M. markkuana.