Navia octopoides

More than 50% of the state of Amazonas is under protection and the population density remains very low, however, human impact has recently considerably increased in the region. All commercial logging activities and mining activities have been legally banned in the Venezuelan Amazon but the local population does not support this prohibition and illegal activities are rampant. Large scale deforestation by burning, road building and tourism are other threats to the natural habitats (Hubber 2001, Schipper et al. 2001, Grober and Huber 2007). Due to the inaccessibility of both the steep slopes and high summits of the Tepui Mountains, much of the natural habitat is intact. Fire represents a threat to the habitat, in fact fires can reach the forest and rock outcrops on the slopes or even the summits. After fires, heavy rains may remove the soil substratum in crevices and ledges preventing recolonization of the native flora, and many Bromeliaceae appear to be sensitive to fires (Benzing 2000, Versieux and Wendt 2007). The international trade of bromeliads has rapidly expanded and has promoted increasing collection pressures on natural populations of several species (Read 1989, Benzing 2000). Extraction of adult plants from the wild for the horticulture trade have been shown to critically endanger populations of saxicolous, narrow-range, endemic bromeliads of rock outcrops, in Brazil (Versieux and Wanderley 2007). However it is currently not known whether this species might be interest for collectors.

There are no known conservation measures specifically for this species, however, many tepuis (table-top mountain) have been legally protected through their inclusion in the conservation category Monumento Natural Cerros. Duida and Marahuaca together form the Duida-Marahuaca, National Park established in December 1978 (Huber and Wurdack 1984, Huber 2001). Strategies for the conservation of these threatened biotas are challenging as in situ policies are probably impossible to undertake and some ex situ strategies should be evaluated (Rull et al. 2006). A management plan was prepared in 1992, by INPARQUES with the assistance of the Spanish International Cooperation agency but has not been implemented (Huber 2001). Conservation efforts may be hindered by difficulty of access, difficulty in regular patrolling of large areas, a lack of adequate personnel, low acceptance of protected areas by native population, corruption and the presence of Guerilla in the region (FARC) (Huber 2001). Venezuela has made great efforts in the last 20 years to build up an extensive and ambitious conservation program for the department of Amazonas but adequate management plans need to be implemented and coordinated with the various authorities, and laws banning logging, mining, fires and wildlife collections must be properly enforced. Navia is an attractive genus but poorly known taxonomically due to the remoteness of their habitats and paucity of collections with many species known from a single gathering. Additional collections including flowers preserved in liquid as well as photographs are needed to resolve numerous nomenclatural difficulties. The uses of minor differences in sepal and floral bract shape have perhaps led to the over description of species. But there is no doubt that Navia is by far the largest genus of Bromeliaceae of the Guyana shield (Holst et al. 1997). Further field work is necessary to fully understand the present distribution of the species and to determine its population status and dynamics. Samples of seed should be collected and stored as an ex situ conservation measure.