Deforestation ruins Jambi's rich medicinal heritage

SOROLANGUN, Jambi (JP): Deforestation in Jambi and Riau is not only depriving jungle tribespeople of their natural habitat, but also destroying plant species with potential medicinal value.

A study conducted in Jambi's Bukit Duabelas Biosphere and Bukit Tigapuluh National Park documented more than 100 plants and fungi traditionally used to fight disease by jungle dwellers and those living near the forests.

The study was jointly conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Indonesia, Bogor Institute of Agriculture, Indonesian Institute of Sciences and the Ministry of Health.

The Medicinal Biota Expedition found Malay people use 183 species, the Talang Mamak tribe 110 and the Kubu tribe 101 of medicinal plants and fungi to cure over 50 diseases.

The Kubu, who the government terms "Suku Anak Dalam" but they themselves prefer to be known as "orang rimbo" or jungle people, identify 27 medicinal fungi, the Talang Mamak 26 and Malay eight.

Leaves are the most usable part of medical plants after roots, bark and sap. The most common preparation is to boil the various parts of the plant, with the water drunk as a herbal extract.

They have long known the plants and fungi as effective cures for common diseases such as rheumatism, dysentery, hepatitis, respiratory ailments, malaria, goiter, skin rashes, coughs and diabetes. Some plants are also considered natural contraceptives.

Among the numerous plants the study identified as having potential medical value are Pasakbumi (Eurycoma longifolia) to cure malaria, Marajokane (Ficus deltoidea) to improve fertility and Cendawan jantung (Dyctiophora indusiata) to treat heart and circulatory diseases.

Gintungan (Sloetia elongara) has long been known as effective for contraception.

The researchers lament that while the tribal people are undoubtedly an important source of knowledge about the medicinal potential of plants, fungus and animals, their habitat is fast disappearing.

The development of plantations, logging and resettlement of people from other areas are the most common pressure on their traditional way of life.

Talang Mamak and traditional Malay in Bukit Tigapuluh, for example, could do nothing to stop a government project to convert 84 hectares of their ancestral forest into a housing complex for transmigrants from other provinces in 1984. Thousands of trees and medicinal plants were chopped down to make way for the project after the native people's protests to the regent went unheeded.

After several years, the resettlers realized they could not work the land in their new home. They abandoned the area and sold their property, leaving behind a trail of ecological degradation.

The researchers also note that resettlement of poor people from Java and other provinces in Sumatra is threatening the survival of the native Talang Mamak community in Indragiri Hulu, Riau.

According to the study, within four years, the newcomers controlled 30 percent of the indigenous people's 3,275 hectares in Talang Lakat village. The transmigrants' activities are environmentally destructive; they exploit the forest and have taught the Talang Mamak to use chain saws to fell trees.

The 127,000-hectare Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, where the Kubu and Talang Mamak live, is under serious threat because of uncontrolled logging and land clearing for plantation projects.

The study recommends documentation of the locals' knowledge about traditional medicinal plants and ensure that they benefit from the development of natural assets.

Indonesia, home to about 146 million hectares of tropical forests, has about 370 ethnic groups living in and near the forests. They have passed down their knowledge of medicinal plants from generation to generation mainly through the oral tradition.

The researchers argue that, if properly managed, the medicinal plants that abound in Indonesian forests may reduce the country's dependence on foreign countries for the raw material for drugs.

"The current medicine crisis aggravated by soaring prices is caused by the country's heavy dependence on imports," the report noted. (pan)