Musa viridis

In Van Chan district of Yên Bái province, the species was collected from forested areas; about 8% of tree cover has been lost across the district between 2001 and 2018 (GFW 2020). Much deforestation in northern Viet Nam took place prior to 2001 with almost all lowland forests in the Northern Indochina subtropical forests ecoregion cleared (MacKinnon 1997); this deforestation has been primarily attributed to arable land expansion, logging, and the hunting and collection of non-timber forest products (WWF 2020). It should be noted, though, that 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). Very little is known about the habitat and ecological preferences of M. viridis so it is difficult to infer the extent to which the species is tolerant of disturbed habitat. Research into the ongoing threats affecting the species, as well as its ecological requirements, is essential.

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 no protected areas in Van Chan district, so it is presumed that the species has only been collected outside protected areas (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN 2020). Two M. viridis germplasm accessions of wild origin are held by the Bioversity International Musa Germplasm Transit Centre (ITC) in Belgium (Ruas et al. 2017, Genesys Global Portal on Plant Genetic Resources 2020). A living collection is reported to be held at the Phu Tho Fruit Research centre (Häkkinen 2010), and one botanical garden is listed as a site of ex situ conservation for this species (BGCI 2020).