Getting Closer To West Papua Wild Plants Used For Medicines

Papua does have vibrant biodiversity. It makes wild plants used as traditional medicine by the indigenous people of Manokwari, West Papua. Biodiversity provides benefits to local communities as a source of herbs. Most of these traditional medicinal plants are generally collected from local tropical rainforest communities. Here’s the information you should know.

Papuan Traditional Medicine

In Manokwari Regency, there are at least 99 species of plants known as traditional medicinal plants. They are widely distributed in various locations, precisely in the rainforest. It shows the diversity of medicinal plants in Papua is enormous. Some of the plants collected by the local community were Cocos nucifera L., Carica papaya L. and Musa x paradisiaca L.

Indigenous people from Manokwari Regency use plants to treat various diseases. These include gastrointestinal disorders, dermatological conditions, painful illnesses, fever, cuts and burns. Almost all diseases can be cured by using wild plants that live in the rainforests of Manokwari Regency, West Papua.

The Advantages of Wild Plants for Medicine

1. Plants for Illness and Fever

Many plants can be used as a natural medicine for the people of Papua. There are at least forty species that can be used for ailments associated with pain or fever. In general, traditional pharmaceuticals are prepared as decoctions or sometimes applied to the affected body parts. For example, in treating fever, a decoction may be designed as a dab to the forehead.

Of the many types of wild plants, Alstonia scholar and Pipturus repandus are the most commonly used plants to treat fever. Meanwhile, Laportea interrupta (L.) is widely recognized as a medicinal plant to combat muscle pain and fatigue. The people in West Papua usually rub fresh leaves on the skin to produce a burning sensation.

2. Plants for Digestive Disorders

Manokwari Regency also has traditional plants that can be used for digestive disorders. Most of the wild plants are used to treat stomach aches, dysentery, liver disease and poisoning. Several species are used to treat this medical condition, namely Homalanthus nutans. This plant will later be boiled first and drunk. widely used by sub-tribes in four different sub-districts

3. Plants to Treat Wounds And Burns

Burns can be treated with certain herbs. The indigenous people of Manokwari use medicinal plants by only crushing the leaves, stems or tubers of certain plants. One of the species plants that are useful in treating burns is the stem sap of Artocarpus altilis. Not only that, excessive bleeding can be stopped by applying the outer skin of Bambusa vulgaris or Ageratum conyzoides juice.

4. Plants for Dermatologists

There are many species of plants from West Papua that are used to treat skin diseases. One of them that can be used is the roots of reeds which are helpful for measles. How to present this drug must go through several stages. Starting from boiled, filtered, cooled, and swallowed twice a day until the patient recovers.

Most of the traditional plants in the Manokwari district are usually collected from local rainforest communities. The natives have used these wild plants to treat medical conditions grouped into several categories—these range from gastrointestinal ailments, dermatological diseases, pain ailments and fevers.