in many other developing countries. It has taken its own
way of development, depending on local traditions. It is
known that the way of administering a particular plant
to cure diseases widely differs among indigenous groups
(Oladele et al., 2011).
Traditional herbal medicine knowledge is common
and important among the Dayaknese communities in
West Kalimantan Province Indonesia, but much of the
information is empirical at best and lacking logical validation.
A number of ethnic communities residing in the
study area are partially or fully dependent on the forest
resources to meet their requirements. Plants have traditionally
been used as a source of medicine in Dayaknese
communities in West Kalimantan. However, little work
has been done in the past to properly document and promote
that knowledge. Today medicinal plants and the
associated knowledge in the area are threatened due to
deforestation, environmental degradation and acculturation.
The objective of this study was to carry out a comprehensive
ethno-medicinal survey of those plants from
the tropical rain forest in West Kalimantan that are used
medicinally in Dayaknese communities.