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EXISTING USAGE BY LOCAL COMMUNITIES OF FOREST PLANT SPECIES
Introduction
Protection of the forests in Lambusanga and at Kakenauwe depends in part, on demonstrating the uses and annual economic value that the local people currently derive from these relatively intact forest areas. The first stage in this study is to determine usage by local communities of plant species for food, medicine and other purposes. For instance, what plants do people grow in their gardens for food? What plants do people use as medicines? What trees do people use to build their houses or use to make boats? Knowledge of plants is passed on by word of mouth. Villages also have especially knowledgeable people who know about medicinal plants and how to take them as medicines. Some men in villages can recognise a large number of tree species and know the best uses of the timber they yield.
The life of villagers may change quickly in the future. Food can now be grown far away and transported to the village. Medicines can be obtained from international drug companies. Forests are being logged by timber companies. All these changes may mean that knowledge of local plants will no longer be required, or can no longer be used, and so may be lost in the future. Moreover without quantification of economic value of these existing uses, the economic value of leaving forests intact is often under-estimated in comparison to the instantaneous value obtained from allowing clear felling.
Aims and Objectives
To record what food plants people in Labundobundo and neighbouring villages grow in their gardens.
To record which medicinal plants are grown in gardens and collected from the forest, and how they are prepared for use as medicines.
To record which forest trees are taken as timber for building houses, making furniture, making boats, etc. To prepare a written account of these uses of plants to maintain this knowledge.
Methods
Villages were visited, the food and medicinal plants seen in gardens recorded and their uses discussed with the villagers. Specimen plants were taken and identified in the laboratory when they could not be recognised on the spot. The local "healer" was contacted, a visit to the forest was made with her and the plants she collected were recorded. Later a structured interview with her was conducted in order to record how plants are prepared for use and the ailments they are prescribed for.
Visits were made to both Kakenauwe and Lambusanga forests with experienced local woodsmen. The tree species they used were identified (by local name) and the uses of the trees recorded. Efforts were subsequently made to ascertain the latin binomials of the tree species.
Initial Results
Forty nine plant species were identified as food plants. Most of these are grown in gardens but some are gathered from the local forests. The frequencies with which they are grown in gardens was recorded. Seventeen plant species were identified as medicinal plants used locally. Frequencies for these in gardens was recorded. The methods of preparation for fifteen plant species were recorded by interviewing the local "healer". Medicinal plants considered to be effective against diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis were encountered.
The timber properties of approximately 50 tree species were recorded by interviewing local woodsmen. These properties included "first class timbers" (about 5 species, used for house frames and furniture), "second class timber" (about 15 species, used for walls, floors, roofs and tools), "durable in water" (used tree species in boat building) and finally "used for firewood/of no use".
Full listings and discussions of the uses made of plants will be published in the future.
Local names were always given by local people. Much effort was made to determine the corresponding Latin binomials. Such efforts were usually successful for garden and medicinal plants. Tree species proved to be more difficult to identify, and herbarium specimens of 24 species have been submitted to the Bogor herbarium (via Dr. Boeadi) for identification.
Publications
A paper entitled "Some medicinal plants and their uses on Buton Island". will be prepared by Dr Andrew Powling, University of Portsmouth by May 2002.