Puya sanctae-crucis

This species occurs in the Bolivian Yungas and the Southern Yungas ecoregions. Although the ecoregion has a good coverage of national parks, habitat loss and general degradation due to human activities persist outside protected areas (Mee 1998). Habitat is burned for growing cash crops, and this has increased, along with logging, due to intensified road-building (Collar et al. 1992). The species also occurs in the Bolivian montane dry forests ecoregion, which is among one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world (Portillo-Quintero and Sánchez-Azofeifa 2009). The ecoregion contains large areas of degraded land, and the region is heavily impacted by urban expansion and the associated conversion to agriculture (Fjeldså and Mayer 1996).

The species grows within the Rio Grande Valles Crucenos Natural Integrated Management Area (WDPA 2020). A number of collection sites occur within and on the edge of the Rio Grande Valles Cruceños Natural Integrated Management Area, where extensive cattle grazing, and agricultural forest clearance is occurring. It has been proposed that the protection level of this site be increased (Fundación Natura Bolivia 2007). The seeds of this species are not currently held by any seed bank (Genesys 2023). A variety of the species, Puya sanctaecrucis var. verdensis, is held in one ex situ collection worldwide (BGCI 2023).