Siberut's medicinal plants face extinction

Siberut's medicinal plants face extinction

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Contributor/Padang

Forty-eight-year-old Taroi Satoinang and three other men make
their way along a forest path near Muntei village on South
Siberut island.

Wearing a traditional costume -- a crown of reddish leaves and
flowers, necklace and a beaded red bracelet -- Taroi leads the
men in a chant.

Taroi is a traditional healer, or kerei. He is on his way into
the forest to find medicinal plants for his patients.

On Siberut, in the Mentawai Islands regency, West Sumatra, a
kerei depends on his herbal concoctions and magic powers when
treating sick people. Although the island has a modern community
health center, about 80 percent of the island's population of
25,000 people still rely on kerei for their medical treatment.

Kerei, are still popular because they are knowledgeable about
medicinal plants and can treat various kinds of ailments, ranging
from headaches, influenza to malaria and wounds caused by snake
bites and gashes. They also have special herbal concoctions that
can be used as contraceptives.

Research conducted by the Center for the Study of Medicinal
Plants of Andalas University in Padang has shown that while many
kerei may believe what they are doing is magic, they are also
using plants with properties recognized by modern medicine.

In cooperation with the Siberut National Park authority, the
center conducted pharmacological research in Rokdok, a hamlet in
South Siberut on the outskirts of the park in October 2002.

With the help of several kerei and other locals, the
researchers collected 209 species of medicinal plants, which
kerei usually use to treat sick people. As many as 154 species
have been identified, belonging to 53 plant families.

"Interestingly, kerei have knowledge of the medical efficacy
of about 85 percent or 176 species of these medicinal plants,"
center head Dr. Amri Bakhtiar, a pharmacologist, said.

Amri said studies had shown the Mentawai people's traditional
knowledge of medicinal plants was better than many other tribes
in Sumatra.

After finding out how the locals made use of medicinal plants
-- ethnobotatic research -- the center took the plants to the
laboratory to identify the chemicals found in them, in what is
called phytochemical research.

So far, this research had only identified the general
categories of the chemical substances and more studies would be
conducted to identify the plants' chemical compounds, Amri said.

The 209 species of plants the team had collected were usually
used to combat about 30 ailments. The most frequently used plants
are rubiaceae (20 species), zingiberaceae (19 species) and
euphorbiaceae (14 species). The most common illnesses that kerei
deal with are colic, kidney stones and a number of female
ailments -- period pain, menopause and illnesses connected with
pregnancy.

While some of these species are used individually, most are
used to prepare herbal concoctions. The team also conducted tests
of 56 species and found 28 species were active and that seven of
these were highly active.

Medicinal plants with outstanding antimicrobial and
pharmacological qualities would be preserved and subjected to
further studies. Many could be developed into new forms of modern
drugs, he said.

However, there is still a lot more to discover about the
plants on Siberut. Of the 209 different plant types the team had
collected not all have yet been classified and many are only
grouped in general plant families or genus. Some plants could be
completely new species, Amri said.

One plant, the sigoik-goik has drawn great interest because of
its unique features. Similar looking to a cassiavera plant, the
stem is used to give fragrance to a drink. "I believe this plant
must be preserved and cultivated," Amri said.

Rokdok is only one of 62 hamlets on Siberut Island. In most of
these hamlets the locals rely on kerei for their medical
treatment.

There is still relatively little known about how kerei from
different areas use these plants. The fact that kerei
traditionally consider it taboo to reveal the formula of their
concoctions to non-kerei does not make the research any easier.

Then there is the problem of the disappearing habitat for
kerei and their medicinal plants. Kerei only make use of the
plants collected from forest areas close to their hamlets. They
do not cultivate these plants, so any destruction of forests
means the loss of their medicines.

For a kerei, the forest is the pulse of life. "The
disappearance of forest areas because of logging means our
death," says Taroi, who hates the forestry operations on Siberut.

Amri said he had asked the forestry ministry and the Mentawai
administration to view Siberut island as an important biological
treasure. They had issued forestry concessions anyway, he said.

"There are still a lot of things we need to learn about
Siberut forests. We must also learn how medicinal plant species
are distributed across Mentawai. Full-scale exploitation of these
forests must be prevented," he said.