OF INDIGENOUS MEDICINAL PLANTS IN INDONESIA
Walter R. Erdelen 1), Kusnaka Adimihardja 2), H.Moesdarsono 3) dan Sidik 4)
ABSTRACT
Indonesia is one of the world’s megacenters of biodiversity. Significant sections of our biological richness are found in this archipelago nation. Conservation of this richness in plant and animal species in one of the high piority issues within the framework of preserving the country's wealth in natural resources. Conservation, are not however, also has to consider the use of natural resources; conservation and utilization are not mutually exclusive concepts. Sustainable use has become one of the key issues in this context. Of the 10 percent of all the flowering plants occurring in Indonesia, use of plants for medicinal purpose -about 15,000 species are presently used in Indonesia - is certainly a significant component for maintaining or even improving quality of life within the Indonesian society. As a consequence, to sustain this use of the country's botanical richness has since many years been considered of prme importance by govermental and non-govermental institutions and authorities alike. However, if species used are not cultivated on a large scale but are taken from the wild, detailed knowledge of their geographic distribution, habitat requirements, and abundance, the major study objects of the science of bogeography, is sine qua non for their successful conservation over the longer term. This applies for most of the species used for medicinal purposes, particulary for the so-called systems of traditional medicine which have a long history in Indonesia. These systems meet the needs for suuply with medicine for large segments of the population and vary considerably among the different ethnic group in Indonesia. The present status of most of the plant species indigenous to Indonesia used tradtional medicine is not clearly understood. Some of the species are already endangered and may even become extinct if effective conservation measures are not identified and implemented. To this end, we suggest a new integrated and transdisciplinary approach aimed at integrating (1) research on biodiversity of indigenous plant species of Indonesia used for medicinal purposes, (2) studies of biogeography and (3) identification of issues for their successful conservation based on the principle of sustainability. This contribution outlines our conceptual framework and gives an overview of key issues in conservation of indigenous medicinal plant species in Indonesia.
Authors' addresses :
2. Prof. Dr. Kusnaka Adimihardja, INRIK, Padjadjaran University, Jl. Dipatiukur 35 R-K3, Bandung 40132.
3. Dr. H. Moesdarsono, Dept. of Pharmacy, Bandung Institute of Technology, Jl. Ganesha 10 Bandung 40132.
4. Prof. Dr. sidik, Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Padjadjaran University, P.O. Box 6571, Cihapit, Bandung 40114 A.
