Indonesia, known in the past as a country of spices and biotic materials, might soon lose a number of its important commodities as farmers shift to crops that offer higher returns.

Kapur barus (camphor), kamenyan (incense) and gambir (gambier plant) could very well be facing extinction, with only a few farmers remaining loyal to these rare commodities. Kapur barus, grown mostly in North Sumatra in the past, is now difficult to find. The leaves of the tree, which have a glossy, waxy appearance, are the main raw materials in camphor production, but the camphor produced from such a plant can no longer compete with other camphor products.

According to recent reports by Kompas daily, the three plants are disappearing even in their main production areas, such as Barus district in Central Tapanuli, North Sumatra, once famous for camphor production. Not many people know that the name kapur barus, the generic Indonesian name for camphor, came from the name of the district.

 According to the Central Tapanuli Forestry and Plantation Agency, only 20 camphor trees can be found in the regency. Like kapur barus, the incense tree (Styrax sumatrana) locally called kamenyan is facing the same fate. The tree, which produces resin that can be used in medicines and cosmetics, is still found in North Sumatra and Lampung, although its numbers are limited, and most trees are more than 100 years old.

The same is happening with ucaria gambir trees, some of which can also still be found in West Sumatra. The extract of its leaves is used as a catechu for chewing with areca and betel, for tanning and dyeing and in herbal medicine.

The kabur barus, kamenyan and gambir trees are just a few examples of the many plants that are disappearing in the country. Other important commodities such as cloves, pepper and nutmeg have also lost prestige, even though in the past they made Indonesia famous around the world for its spices.

Their disappearance will not only be a big loss to the biodiversity of Indonesia, but also in the opportunity to develop them into highly valued medicinal and cosmetics products.

Unfortunately, the efforts to develop them are not being conducted at home but abroad. Many foreigners, both individuals and business institutions, are currently conducting research on many of the species, which are believed to be rich in materials that can be used not only as herbal products but also in cosmetics. With the growing popularity of herbal medicines around the world, such commodities could be in high demand in the future.

Although the plants’ economic value is considered too paltry for farmers to grow them, they need to be preserved. The government could, for example, establish conservation areas for plants that are becoming rare in locations previously known as their production hubs.

More importantly, pharmaceutical companies should also be encouraged to be more active in conducting research on such commodities inside the country so that local cosmetics and medicine producers will no longer need to import them. Many important commodities are exported because of a lack of processing facilities in the country.

The processed materials are then imported back into Indonesia and sold to local pharmaceutical, herbal and cosmetics companies. If this continues, farmers will be unable to benefit from the added value of the products they grow. If they were to be processed at home, prices would certainly be higher, giving more benefits to farmers. If no incentives are offered for research activities, it is feared that control of all the important Indonesia species will fall into foreign hands. As a consequence, Indonesia will not be able to do anything except import them to meet local demand, despite being their country of origin.

Indonesian pharmaceutical and herbal companies still rely heavily on imported raw materials to support their production. At present, almost 90 percent of pharmaceutical products are imported, mostly from China. The high costs have resulted in locally produced medicines being just as expensive as imported ones.

In order to encourage the local production of raw materials for use in the production of medicine, the government recently issued a regulation that allows foreign companies to fully own companies that produce intermediary products for medicine production.

According to the regulation, which was issued as part of the ninth economic policy package announced by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in March, foreign investors are allowed to have 100 percent ownership in a company producing raw materials for medicine production.

Removing the foreign ownership cap will be unlikely to immediately attract many foreign companies in the production of raw material for medicine production in Indonesia, because species or plants used as raw materials for medicine production are still limited.

A lot of research needs to be done before they can be used in the production of medicine. In order to encourage research, besides removing the foreign ownership cap, the government should also provide fiscal incentives to encourage research and development activities in the pharmaceutical sector. At present, the lack of funds hampers research activities.

If fiscal incentives were to be introduced, Indonesia would not only gain economic benefits from the millions of commodities it has, but it would also be able to conserve them.

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The writer is a staff writer of The Jakarta Post.

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