Conservation
During the 1980s, plant collectors began to visit Mount Kelam with increased frequency, placing pressure on wild populations of N. clipeata. Local guides also started to collect specimens for their villages, particularly those growing near the base of the mountain. Many of these plants did not survive and so more were harvested to replace them. Additional habitat stresses were caused by the El Niño of 1997 to 1998 and the resulting droughts and forest fires. The combination of these factors contributed to the rapid decline of N. clipeata on Mount Kelam. In 1995, it was thought that only around 15 plants remained in the wild, while in 2001 Charles Clarke gave an even lower estimate of 2–6 specimens. However, a 2010 study found 260 plants at 749–874 m altitude, scattered across 45 coordinates on Mount Kelam. The authors of the study noted that most of the observed specimens grew on inaccessible cliff sides. Of the flowering specimens seen by the authors, the majority were male.
Despite its rarity, N. clipeata is officially listed on CITES Appendix II and was until recently considered Data Deficient by the IUCN. There is now thought to be little hope for the long-term survival of this species in the wild and the Nepenthes clipeata Survival Project (NcSP) has been set up by the International Carnivorous Plant Society (ICPS) to facilitate ex situ conservation of the species. It is estimated that there are only three or four genetically-distinct lines of "white market" (legally collected) plants in cultivation. There is also an ongoing N. clipeata in situ conservation project started in October 2011 by Irwan Lovadi and supported by The Rufford Small Grants Foundation. It follows on from a similar initiative started by Lovadi in February 2010, which was also funded by The Rufford Foundation.
In 2010, the Rare Nepenthes Collection was established with the aim of conserving 4 of the most threatened Nepenthes species: N. aristolochioides, N. clipeata, N. khasiana, and N. rigidifolia.
Read more about this topic: Nepenthes Clipeata
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