When we talk about Papua, for sure our mind is thinking of an island full of wonderful things. It cannot be denied that this condition is true. Natural wealth in the form of flora and fauna is still considered beautiful as it is in Papua. This is also in line with the livelihoods of the Papuan people who can still make good use of nature, namely as farmers and fishermen. What is available in Papua is then utilized as well as possible by the people there without neglecting their environmental wisdom so that it does not destroy nature and instead provides good reciprocal relations.
In addition to being used for agricultural livelihoods, the plants in Papua are actually used as a substitute for medicine. Accustomed to interacting with and utilizing everything that exists in nature, the Papuan people are able to maximize all existing potential. Including natural medicines that come from plants around them. For example, in natural conditions that are close to nature, there is certainly a risk of being bitten by malaria mosquitoes, so the Papuan people have traditional medicines to treat malaria, namely milk wood, young areca nut, bitter leaf, and mountain pine. Even for one type of disease, there are four types of plants that can be used as traditional medicines with proven effects and passed down from one generation to another.
Another plant that is often used by the people of Papua is red fruit or the other name base of this genus fruit is “Pandanus Conoideus”. Diseases that can be cured by using red fruit as an alternative medicine include skin diseases, eye diseases, and also the neurological functions of the body. At a more advanced level, red fruit is said to cure diabetes and cancer. Apart from red fruit, there is also a yellow string plant which can increase the body’s immunity and increase energy during activities. Besides that, the yellow rope plant can also be used to treat various types of diseases too.
When the COVID-19 pandemic occurred and became a dangerous epidemic in 2020 to 2022, the use of plants that could be alternative medicines was supported by the government, especially the Papua Provincial Health Service. For good, They have made guidelines for the use of plants that can be used as alternative medicine, what their benefits are, and how they are processed. With that condition there is a hope that the use of traditional medicines from plants will continue from one generation to another. Even though medicines containing chemical elements are also becoming easier to obtain, Papuan people also have alternative natural medicines from plants that they are already familiar with and that they can more easily find in their surrounding environment. These various plants can also have economic value when distributed and sold as alternative medicinal preparations to various other regions.