Based on anecdotal accounts, the species is only known in the wild from hill forest at Kepala Air Kali Ima in West Papua province, Indonesia. Very few botanical expeditions have reached this part of West Papua Province. There have been two expeditions to the area around Yamur Lake, in 2001 and 2015 (Heatubun pers. comm.) and only a single cultivated specimen of this palm has been collected. Although this area is relatively under-collected, there is a long-term focus on palms in New Guinea by specialists (Baker and Dransfield 2006), so it is unlikely that there are any undetermined specimens of Areca jokowi in Indonesian herbaria, or those outside Indonesia with large collections from New Guinea. Therefore we can reasonably assume that this species is at least, highly restricted. Given this, the species is inferred to be restricted to a single location, and the area of occupancy and extent of occurrence are estimated as 4 km², through ground-truthing may prove these values to represent underestimates. No information is available regarding the size and status of the wild population. While there is a future threat posed by a logging concession which covers the single site at which the species is found, at the moment it is unlikely this species is experiencing continuing decline. This species is therefore assessed as Vulnerable D2 as it its distribution is likely to be highly restricted with a plausible future threat that could rapidly cause the species to become Critically Endangered or Extinct.

Areca jokowi is known from a single site in Indonesian New Guinea where it was found as a cultivated plant: Gariau (Urubika) village, in Yamur District, in the Kaimana Regency, on the shore of Yamur (Jamur) Lake. The elevation was recorded as 300 metres asl. Heatubun (2016) was informed by the person cultivating the palms that they came from "seeds brought from hill forest at Kepala Air Kali Ima (headwaters of Ima river) in Gunung Daweri (Mt. Daweri), near Kewo village on the border of Nabire Regency of Papua Province."

No numerical population information is available for this species, and the current trend is unknown.

Areca jokowi is recorded in Heatubun (2016) as a solitary palm to 15 metres tall. It is recorded as growing in hill forest on soils derived from sandstone.

The area in the River Ima headwaters and Gunung Daweri where the seeds were collected and where the wild population is presumed to occur is entirely within the PT Kaltim Hutama logging concession. On Google Earth satellite imagery this area is still intact forest, but if the logging concession becomes active, the only population of A. jokowi is likely to be rapidly driven to extinction. No information on the scale of use of the fruits (as a betel nut substitute) is known, but this may also be a threat to the species if it is harvested destructively.

Areca jokowi is a close relative of the betel nut, A. catechu. Heatubun (2016) records that the fruits are chewed as a betel nut substitute. Heatubun also notes that A. jokowi has potential as an ornamental.

There have been recent 'conservation province' initiatives in West Papua and, on March 21st 2019, a special provincial regulation was ratified with aims to set aside 70% of the land as conservation areas, review land-based business licences and promote sustainable development with a commitment to preserve biodiversity and maintain ecological balance (INFS 2019). The single site where the wild population is presumed to exist is within a logging concession (Heatubun 2016). There are no protected areas nearby (Global Forest Watch 2023). Franky and Morgan (2015) report that within Kaimana Regency, two companies applied for permission to release land from the state forest estate for palm oil plantations in 2013; these permissions were not granted and they have no further information about palm oil permits in Kaimana Regency.

Areca jokowi is successfully cultivated in Gariau village c. 33 km away from its natural population, so it can be assumed it is reasonably easy to cultivate and can survive outside its native range, and would be suitable for horticulture. It is not currently represented in ex situ collections (BGCI 2023). Ex situ conservation methods could include artificial propagation, but also seed banking and study of the seed storage behaviour of this species. There is also no data currently about the harvesting and use of the seeds as a betel nut substitute, so the scale of this as a threat to the species cannot currently be quantified.