Licuala anomala was known from just one 19th century collection from the Lorentz River until work focusing on the palms of New Guinea (Baker 2002) including targeted collecting trips began at the turn of the 21st century and new collections were made, extending the known distribution of this species by about 600 km to two sites near Bintuni Bay. The estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) for this species are very uncertain values as there are few specimens and a disjunct distribution. It is not known whether it occurs more widely between these known localities, nor whether the species still occurs in the Lorentz River area. No population-level numerical data exists for this species. 
The imprecise EOO estimate of 29,298 km² exceeds the threshold for threatened categories, but the AOO of 12 km² falls within the thresholds for the Endangered category under criterion B. Current threats from logging and development to the collection site south of Bintuni Bay can be inferred to be reducing the quality of habitat available to Licuala anomala. A plausible future threat from a logging concession is also evident at the site to the north of Bintuni Bay. However, the status of the species in Lorentz river basin raises significant uncertainty as to the extinction risk of the species. If it was collected within the area now covered by the vast Lorentz National Park, it is possible that a large and stable population is present and the extinction risk to this species is minimal. Alternatively, if it were collected outside this area, it is possible that the species has been extirpated from this region, and is now limited to the Bintuni bay area where its population and distribution are restricted, declining and fragmented, such that it could be subject to a very high extinction risk. Palms of New Guinea have been a recent research focus (Baker 2002), including increased collection effort, which resulted in the re-discovery of the species after having not been collected for more than 100 years. However, given its potentially wide distribution within New Guinea and the large areas of available habitat, it is quite possible that further botanical collecting will reveal new areas where this species occurs. On account of the uncertainty created by the historic Lorentz river basin collection, the species could plausibly be listed in threat categories ranging from Least Concern to Critically Endangered, and it is therefore assessed as Data Deficient (DD).

Licuala anomala has a disjunct distribution within Indonesian New Guinea. It was first collected by von Römer on the 1909-1910 2nd Lorentz Expedition, from an unknown locality in the Lorentz river basin. The species is also known from three 21st century collections from the central part of the Bird's Head Peninsula near Bintuni Bay. The recorded elevational range from herbarium specimen labels is 15 to 253 metres asl.

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

Licuala anomala is a small clustering palm which grows up to 2 metres high.

An accurate site of collection for the von Römer specimen is not known, so no detailed threats can be identified, however it may be located inside the Lorentz National Park, a large protected area (Beccari 1921). One of the 21st century collections was made on the southern side of Bintuni Bay on the coast, next to a Liquid Natural Gas terminal. Although forest remains at the site of collection, satellite imagery of this area shows complete forest loss nearby with large burnt areas 7 km away and a palm oil plantation 8 km away. Continued forest loss in this area is likely, due to expansion of the LNG terminal and development of roads and settlements associated with the LNG, logging and palm oil industries. There are two other collections of this species at one collection site to the north of Bintuni Bay inside the logging concession 'PT Manokwari Mandiri Lestari' (Global Forest Watch 2023), which is not yet active.

According to information recorded on herbarium specimen labels (Heatubun #1038, #1039), the stems are used as tobacco pipes and arrow heads, while the leaves are used as roof material for making temporary huts.

The 19th century von Römer specimen may have been collected from what is now the Lorentz National Park, but due to a lack of precise locality information, this cannot be confirmed. The 21st century collections have been made outside protected areas, although the collection site to the north of Bintuni Bay is about 9 km north of the Bintuni Bay Nature Reserve, so the population of Licuala anomala may extend into this protected area. It is not found in any ex situ collections (BGCI 2023).