Cyclamen colchicum has a very restricted range in the mountains of northwestern Georgia. It has an extent of occurrence (EOO) of approximately 2,500 km² and an area of occupancy (AOO) of at least 40 km² (assuming that individual subpopulations at a site would fall in the same 2 x 2 km grid squares). This value is highly likely to be an underestimate, but given that surveys failed to find the species in various sites within the wider EOO as there were not suitable conditions, then the true AOO is expected to be within the threatened thresholds (i.e. <2,000 km²), and probably only in the hundreds of km². The main threat appears to be from collection, but most sites are fairly inaccessible and probably could be considered individual locations (rather than its entire range potentially being one location), although more open areas could be heavily impacted by grazing. Taking into account that there are likely to be additional sites, and the uncertainty over how widely it may occur in Abkhazia, the number of locations is precautionarily considered to be small, in the range 11–20. Therefore, C. colchicum is assessed as Near Threatened under criteria B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii).

Cyclamen colchicum is endemic to Georgia, where it occurs in the northwest of country in the Caucasus Mountains (The Cyclamen Society 2024). It is known from several, scattered subpopulations from eastern Abkhazia (which are not accessible), across eastwards through Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti and just into Racha-Lechkhumi (Denney and Khutsishvili 2014). Cheisvili and Matchutadze (2018) suggest that it also occurs in Imereti, but no further site details are provided on this species in particular, and so this is not included in the map.

Within the confirmed range C. colchicum has a highly restricted extent of occurrence (EOO) of only 2,539 km². It is difficult to estimate the area of occupancy (AOO), but if each known subpopulation were to fall in a single 2 x 2 km grid cell then the minimum AOO would be 40 km². This is almost certainly an underestimate, but taking into account potential additional sites (noting that the species was not found in various sites within the wider EOO as there were not suitable conditions during the surveys of Denney and Khutsishvili 2014), and the fact that some sites may include more than a single 2 x 2 km grid cell, the true AOO is still expected to fall below 2,000 km², and potentially could only be in the hundreds of km².

The main threat appears to be from collection, but most sites are fairly inaccessible and probably could be considered individual locations (rather than its entire range potentially being one location), although more open areas could be heavily impacted by grazing. Taking into account that there are likely to be additional sites, and the uncertainty over how widely it may occur in Abkhazia (at least two, more or less larger, sites; Kolavoksky 1985), the number of threat-based locations is could be considered to be small, in the range 11–20. Cheisvili and Matchutadze (2018) in their assessment put the number of locations as four to five, but do not explicitly link this to threats and use the main threat as being trampling by cattle. However, this threat does not appear to be prevalent across the known sites for the species, with known cattle herds only in the areas of the subpopulations at Mt Kvira and between Mt Jvari and Mt Migaria (Denney and Khutsishvilil 2014). Therefore, this locations value is not followed, and instead the value of 11–20 threat-based locations is used, which itself may be precautionary.

Most sites surveyed by Denney and Khutsishvili (2014) had small subpopulations of Cyclamen colchicum, numbering in the tens to low hundreds of individuals. Detailed estimates of subpopulation sizes are not available for all sites, though. The Mt Kvira subpopulation, however,  is very large, with 1–10 mature individuals per m², while at Mt Jvari the subpopulation consists of 'many hundreds of plants', and at both sites it was considered fairly stable (Denney and Khutsishvili 2014). With other sites being fairly remote, it is suspected that they may be relatively stable too. Thus, while the population size is not known and may not be large (likely to be in the low thousands of mature individuals), its stable population size means that it would not warrant a listing as threatened under criterion C.

Cyclamen colchicum is predominantly associated with limestone habitats (Denney and Khutsishvili 2014). It can be found growing in pockets of soil in rocks, and rock debris, in open conditions on slopes from 35^o to vertical (Denney and Khutsishvili 2014; D. Kikodze pers. comm.). It has also been collected from sub-alpine areas, and high elevation alpine meadows, but remains associated with similar humus-rich soil pockets associated with limestone in such conditions (Denney and Khutsishvili 2014, The Cyclamen Society 2024). Despite being associated with limestone the pH of soils it is found in are at 6.5–7.9 (Denney and Khutsishvili 2014). It grows at an altitudinal range of 300–2,500 m asl (D. Kikodze pers. comm.).

The main threats to Cyclamen colchicum are from over-grazing, the construction of dams for hydro-electric schemes and the collection of seeds for ex situ growth (Denney and Khutsishvili 2014).

Collection of seeds and tubers of the species is the main threat most subpopulations are too small for any sustainable collection of seed (either for ex situ conservation or for horticultural cultivation), and at most sites the level of natural regeneration is only just about great enough to allow the subpopulations to persist at the current level rather than allowing for any natural population increase (Denney and Khutsishvili 2014; D. Kikodze pers. comm.). However, at this time most sites are relatively inaccessible and so this will hopefully ameliorate this to some degree. That said, there is a growing impact in the region from tourism, leading to habitat destruction and deterioration (D. Kikodze pers. comm.), and so with this increase in accessibility it could be that the threat from collection increases in the future.

Denney and Khutsishvili (2014) note how there is no significant threat to this species from habitat alterations for logging, but that over-grazing is a key threat to the species' habitat. There are single cattle herds at Mt Kvira and the area between Mt Jvari and Mt Migaria, but at the moment there is sufficient fodder that the cattle are not impacting C. colchicum, however any increase in cattle density could significantly impact this species. The species has been lost from one site it historically occurred in, though, due to grazing.

Hydro-electric schemes could have a significant impact on this species as its range includes a number of such schemes. However, at the time of the surveys of Denney and Khutsishvili (2014) the impact of such activities on C. colchicum was uncertain. Local development projects and road expansion/restoration may also be potential threats (D. Kikodze pers. comm.)

This species is used in horticulture, but is currently scarce in the nursery trade (The Cyclamen Society 2014). It has been used in traditional medicine in Georgia, with a tincture containing this species being used for the treatment of arthritis, frontitis, liver disease and neuralgia (Cheisvili and Matchutadze 2018).

This species is listed in Appendix II of CITES. It is held in nine botanic gardens as ex situ collections (BGCI 2024). In Georgia it is evaluated as "Requiring strict protection" (K. Batsatsashvili pers. comm.). Seeds have been deposited in the Caucasus Regional Seed Bank at the Tbilisi Botanical Garden (Mikatadze-Pantsulaia et al. 2010), but it was recommended that further seed collection is carried out for further ex situ conservation efforts (Denney and Khutsishvili 2014). Further monitoring of subpopulations is necessary.