The sustainable management of wild useful palms is crucial for their long-term survival. To understand how populations respond to extraction, it is necessary to examine the impacts of extraction in relation to their life histories in their habitat. This requires a balance between over-exploitation and under-utilization. A suitable genus for studying extraction responses and understanding life histories is Geonoma, as it exhibits a variety of demographic strategies and has high potential for use. Two species, Geonoma orbignyana and G. undata, are commonly used as ornamentals for domestic purposes and commercialized on small-scale markets. They differ in their habitats, with G. orbignyana found in the understory and G. undata in more open spaces, suggesting different life histories. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to simulate the impacts of extraction for ornamental purposes in G. orbignyana and G. undata and identify the relationship with their life histories. The research was conducted in the Andean Forest of Chicaque Natural Park, Colombia in 2019–2021. We determined the demography of the two species, using Integral Projection Models (IPMs), and simulated the extraction of juveniles, leaves, and fruits. We found that both species exhibited typical understory palm patterns in terms of survival and growth rates. However, G. orbignyana had lower maximum individual size and onset of fecundity, indicating understory strategies, while G. undata displayed mixed strategies. The population of G. undata declined during both census periods due to high elasticities on juveniles, and extracting of juveniles and leaves is unsustainable, contrary of extraction of fruits, which seems to be sustainable. On the other hand, the extraction of leaves in G. orbignyana is potentially sustainable if occurs on specific sizes, but the extraction of juveniles and fruits deplete the population. These findings suggest that sustainable extraction practices can be implemented to under-utilized palm populations while ensuring their conservation. To achieve this, it is crucial to protect the sizes and processes related to the growth and survival of acaulescent juveniles. Only after ensuring their growth should any extraction activities be considered. By adopting these practices, we can promote the responsible use of palm resources and safeguard their long-term viability.