Traditional Knowledge on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants as an Important Source of Culture and Heritage of the Orang Asli, Peninsular Malaysia

Our socioeconomic surveys of three of the sub-ethnic groups of Orang Asli (indigenous people) in Peninsular Malaysia indicated that traditional knowledge (TK) on the use of medicinal and aromatic plants has been and will continue to be a valuable source of culture and heritage for future generations. To date, sources of TK are Puyang, Bomoh, village midwives, mothers, Batin (headmen), and others (e.g., family members and dreams). According to the surveys, TK on the use of medicinal and aromatic plants usually is inherited from fathers, mothers, and other relatives, as well as through trial and error. Because such means do not guarantee the continuity of such knowledge, a research team from the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2007-2010) and the Tenth Malaysia Plan (2011) embarked on a project entitled “Documentation of TK on medicinal and aromatic plants used by the Orang Asli.” The project’s key activities included an awareness and capacity-building programme for selected sub-ethnic groups, collection and preparation of samples for herbarium specimens, database development, and a socioeconomic survey of households. The project is considered timely as such concerted efforts to document and at the same time to train the Orang Asli have never been undertaken before. Above all, such efforts will ensure not only the sustainability of TK as the culture and heritage of the Orang Asli but also offer protection of such TK, especially when the issue of intellectual property rights is considered. This paper therefore highlights some results from the socioeconomic surveys related to TK as a source of culture and heritage of the Orang Asli, as well as other pertinent activities that led to successful implementation of the project.