During the 1980s, plant collectors began to visit Mount Kelam with increased frequency, placing pressure on wild populations of N. clipeata. Local guides also started to collect specimens for their villages, particularly those growing near the base of the mountain. Many of these plants did not survive and so more were harvested to replace them. Additional habitat stresses were caused by the El Niño of 1997 to 1998 and the resulting droughts and forest fires. The combination of these factors contributed to the rapid decline of N. clipeata on Mount Kelam. In 1995, it was thought that only around 15 plants remained in the wild, while in 2001 Charles Clarke gave an even lower estimate of 2-6 specimens. However, a 2010 study found 260 plants at 749-874 m altitude, scattered across 45 coordinates on Mount Kelam. The authors of the study noted that most of the observed specimens grew on inaccessible cliff sides. Of the flowering specimens seen by the authors, the majority were male. A 2016 multi-day expedition to Indonesian Borneo by geographer and writer Stewart McPherson found only seven specimens, four adult and three juvenile.