I

ndonesia is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world. Ironically, not everyone fully understands the value of these resources or how they can be utilized. The diversity of species, which, among other things, can be used in the production of new medicines, cosmetics and better crops, has high economic value.

The value of such resources is not solely generated by modern science, yet in some cases it is derived from traditional knowledge that has further developed with modern technology and scientific knowledge. At this point, traditional knowledge provides incentive for investment in research.

Pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies in developed and some developing countries are interested in traditional knowledge. They realize that traditional knowledge can help identify commercially valuable drugs, avoiding the costly searching and screening of a broader group of biological resources. They can take economic advantage of the development of traditional knowledge over resources utilization.

The Convention on Biological Diversity noted that one of the UK'€™s big pharmaceutical companies, Phytoparm, owns the patent on diet pills using Hodia gordonii (Ascelepiaceae) as one of the raw materials of the pill. Development of the useful plant was based on the San Communities'€™ traditional knowledge in South Africa that consume the plant'€™s flesh to suppress their appetite while on a long trip.

Another example is the economic benefits obtained by Arya Vaidya, as the license holder of an anti-fatigue herbal drug using one of the components of Trichopus zeylanicus plant. The herb was found in the Kani tribe'€™s habit in India. The tribe has been using the plant for centuries to sustain vitality.

The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing adopted at the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2010) gives economic opportunities to countries with a variety of traditional knowledge. The protocol covers not only access to genetic resources and benefit sharing from its utilization but also access to traditional knowledge and the arrangement of benefit sharing over its development as well.

As an archipelagic country, Indonesia has various ethnic groups, around 336, each with different knowledge of how to utilize the biodiversity that impacts their daily lives. In medicinal uses, for example, some ethnic groups use different plants to treat the same disease, whereas some ethnic groups treat the same diseases with the same plant but use a different method of healing.

The Javanese work with ancestral healing to recover health by using Pimpinellasp, under the local name of Purwoceng, whereas Papuas use Drymisanthon (Akway wood) for the same purpose. They use different plants to treat the same disease/symptom.

It shows that Indonesia has many potential assets in exploring and developing the value of biodiversity by using traditional knowledge. In fact, it seems as though we have fallen asleep on all the resources and lack any drive to explore and develop opportunities to get the full value of its resources.

Traditional knowledge seems to have been left behind. There is no special measure to preserve or protect traditional knowledge. The preservation and protection of traditional knowledge is governed at a glance in some national acts.

Traditional knowledge gives significant meaning to the daily life of millions of people in developing countries. Some countries, like China and India, have prioritized traditional knowledge, particularly in relation to traditional medicine.

China, as one of the leading countries in this field, increased the total production of herbal medicines by 212.6 percent between 1990 and 1995. Based on research, the production value of traditional medicine in China increased about US$9.7 billion from 2004 to 2005.

One of the most famous traditional medicinal systems in India is Ayurveda, a combination of traditional healing and religious belief. The Indian government noted the value of the medicinal plant trade in India in 1997 was about $5.5 billion. It is estimated that the value of the traditional medicine market can be increased 20 percent annually.

Indonesia, as a country with a variety of traditional knowledge and greater diversity of biological resources than China and India, should have the capacity to gain more benefits economically, ecologically and socially compared to the other two countries. Appropriate measures are needed to reach this goal.  Research in exploring the value of biodiversity rooted in traditional knowledge has to be encouraged. Furthermore, the preservation and protection of traditional knowledge adhering to biological resource utilization is also important.

One of the key steps of traditional knowledge preservation and protection is the documentation of traditional knowledge. Along with these processes, a comprehensive regulation on traditional knowledge related to biodiversity should be developed. In these processes, some technical issues need to be resolved, such as traditional knowledge ownership and how to prove ownership of traditional knowledge.

The preservation and protection of traditional knowledge must be intended to increase its value, such as concern for conservation, the preservation of traditional practices and culture, the prevention of access by unauthorized parties of components of traditional knowledge and promotion of its use in developing the value of the biodiversity.

In addition, traditional knowledge preservation and protection should be directed to provide the basis for local communities to share their knowledge and improve their position to obtain value from its preservation and protection. If their rights were to be recognized, they would have the right to fair compensation for the utilization of their knowledge, and they would have more incentive to conserve it as expected under the Nagoya Protocol, ratified by Indonesia last
month.

By introducing such measures, the existence of traditional knowledge associated with biodiversity utilization would benefit the owners of traditional knowledge and eventually the economy.

The writer is an alumnus of the school of public and environmental Affairs, Indiana University, US.