Indonesia :: One and Only

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor

Indonesia trails only Brazil and Zaire in terms of biodiversity, yet the country still relies on imports of raw materials from India and Thailand for its traditional herbal medicine industry.

The head of Bogor’s Aromatic and Herbal Plants Research Center (Balittro), H.A.M. Syakir, said the government’s lack of attention to the cultivation of herbal plants was to blame for the insufficient supply of raw material for traditional medicine production.

Syakir spoke to journalists during a one-day exhibition and workshop on aromatic and herbal plants, at Botani Square Bogor earlier this week.

Some 75 researchers, medical practitioners, businesspeople and farmers took part in the event. (more…)