Accepted as Rhampholeon nchisiensis in Tilbury (2010). Preliminary molecular studies show that populations from Owemba Forest (Kipengere Mountain), originally thought to be this species, actually represent an undescribed species (K. Tolley, Unpub. data 2013).

This species is listed as Least Concern due to its widespread distribution within a series of connected forest patches, and is presumably not heavily impacted by anthropogenic activities, except in a few localized areas of Tanzania. If threats intensify substantially through habitat destruction on a large scale that affects multiple forest patches, this species should be re-assessed.

This species is found in naturally fragmented montane forest patches in the southern highlands of Tanzania and the north of Malawi and Zambia. The forest patches where this species occurs are small (a few square kilometres), whereas others are moderately sized (ca. 100 km²), but the patches are not widely separated. While its entire range covers an area of 12,600 km², the total area of forest is estimated at perhaps 10% of this figure. Localities in Malawi include Nchisi Forest, Misuku Mountains (Mughese Forest and Matipa Forest) and Nyika Plateau, in Zambia records are limited to the forest patches on the Nyika Plateau, and in Tanzania it is known from multiple forest localities including the Ukinga, Poroto and Rungwe Mountains (Tilbury 2010).

There is no quantitative information on abundance for this species, although it can be locally abundant in some forest patches (Tilbury 2010). This species is probably not subject to notable population declines although it may be subject to local declines in areas where the forests are heavily impacted. Because this species is naturally fragmented, and there are also several large forest patches remaining, the population is not considered severely fragmented. Although it occurs in small forest patches, the sheer number of these patches across the grassland matrix, as well as the short distances between patches, also suggests it should not be considered severely fragmented. It is highly likely that many of these patches are connected by gene flow.

This species inhabits naturally fragmented Afrotemperate forest patches. Like most Rhampholeon, it is considered to be primarily terrestrial, although it does perch on low bushes during the night-time. It is not known to inhabit the naturally occurring grassland/savannah that separates forest patches. However, chameleons are known to cross unsuitable habitat if the distances are small, and many of the forest patches are just tens or hundreds of metres apart. Although, it is likely that some gene flow occurs between forest patches, because of the very small body size of this chameleon, the scale of distance that they would cross is probably smaller than arboreal chameleons. This would suggest that the patches which are spaced hundreds of metres apart may be more isolated than those only tens of metres apart. Like other Rhampholeon, this species is not considered to tolerate transformed or degraded habitats.

Some of the forest patches that this species occupies are within the transformed landscape, and as such, are under pressure from encroachment from human activities for subsistence living. In general, if threats intensify in the future, the smaller forest patches could be lost relatively rapidly. Other patches are within protected areas, where encroachment is assumed to be minimal and patches are not expected to be lost.

As no Rhampholeon species (with the exception of R. spinosus) are listed on CITES, annual CITES export quotas and CITES trade data for this species are lacking. This species is imported into the pet trade in limited quantities every few years, however the true extent of this collection is uncertain.

The Nyika Plateau within Malawi is protected as a national park and a number of forest patches occur there. There are no conservation actions recommended at this time, but research into the status of the populations in the forest fragments, and the distribution in general would improve our understanding of the potential threats to this species.