This little known species was only collected once in the wild over 100 years ago. It is assumed to be endemic to the island of Buru in the Moluccas, Indonesia. Due to the lack of any further reports of this species in the wild, its current distribution and population status is unknown. Buru Island has experienced several past and ongoing threats to its natural habitats and the vast majority of the lowland areas of the island have been deforested. The remaining intact forest now exists in montane areas, though most of these forests now fall within large logging concessions. Therefore, aside from one small protected area on the eastern side of the island, almost all of the forests on Buru have either been, or are potentially threatened by human activities such as logging, agriculture and mining. Though the elevational range of this species as well as its habitat requirements are unknown, and it is not possible to directly know whether this species will have yet been impacted, it is reasonable to consider it likely to have experienced, or likely to experience in the near future, significant habitat loss. Taking a precautionary approach, as there is only one record of the species, it is considered to occur at one location, with a minimum area of occupancy and extent of occurrence of 4 km². Therefore, this species is assessed as Critically Endangered under criterion B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii). Targeted surveys to try to rediscover this species in the wild to determine its current status are urgently recommended. Should the species be rediscovered, collection of material for ex situ conservation is recommended.

This species is known only from the isotype specimen collected in 1908 and described in protologue in 1940 by Fagerlind and can be considered as endemic to Buru island in the Moluccas, Indonesia. The species has not been recorded in the wild since and there is no further locality information available. The elevation it was recorded at is unknown. The highest point of Buru island is 2,428 m asl. Pandanus species grow at a wide range of elevations from sea level to 3,300m from low islands, riverine to mountain ecosystem. It is possible that this species could grow naturally at any altitude on Buru Island.

The listing of this species as occurring on Java (POWO 2023) is erroneous due to the specimen coming from a plant grown at Bogor Botanic Garden in West Java. Only two records are available on GBIF (2023) and both pertain to the same specimen, but one has been taken from a cultivated plant at Bogor (that was presumably grown from a cutting taken from the original Buru specimen).

The population status of this species is unknown as only a single record of the species from the wild is known and this was collected over 100 years ago in 1908.

With no specific locality information on the single record it is not possible to determine with any certainty the habitat this species grows in. The flora of Buru Island is largely classified as riparian vegetation, lowland forest dominated by Dipterocarps, and highland forests (800–1,300 m asl) characterised by Myrtaceae, conifers and Fagaceae. This species is described as a many-branched tall bush, so is inferred to be a large shrub or possibly a small tree.

Historically, Buru Island was a prison camp site and has recently experienced religious conflict in the last two decades. Both of these may have impacted the biodiversity of the island. Furthermore, degradation in coastal lowlands through repeated burning has been reported in north of the island and the majority of lowland forests have now been converted to agricultural land (Morrison 2001). Camera trap records also note people entering the forests on a daily basis (Paino 2021). The rate of forest conversion is projected to increase with the recent discovery of gold deposits on the island (Macdonald and Pattikawa 2017). Though there is still extensive forest remaining in the montane areas of the island, the vast majority of these areas now fall within one of many large active logging concessions and therefore these forests are highly vulnerable to deforestation (Global Forest Watch 2023). As the habitat and elevation of this species is unknown, it is not possible to discern if this species may have been impacted by habitat loss or degradation since it was first collected. However, even if the species is still extant on the island, given the extent of logging concessions on the island compared to the availability of protected areas, it is almost certainly at a high risk of extinction. 

There are no recorded uses for this species.

Though this species was at one point cultivated at Bogor Botanic Garden, according to PlantSearch (BGCI 2023), there are no current ex situ collections of this species. It is possible that the specimen historically reported in cultivation has died. There is only one protected area on Buru Island, the small Masbait Wildlife Reserve on the eastern corner of the island.