UNAIR NEWS – Indonesia is losing rare species due to deforestation and human impacts on the forest ecosystem, including tourism. Biodiversity loss reduces the potential for discovering natural-based medicinal compounds in plants and animals to improve human health.
Ijen Geopark is one of the threatened spots for biodiversity loss. Herbs and medicinal plants, which are Osing cultural heritage in Ijen, Banyuwangi are being forgotten, limiting the known variety of herbs and their usage.
Responding to the matter, 15 students of UNAIR, members of BEM KM SIKIA UNAIR, qualified for the 2022 Student Organization Capacity Building Program (PPK ORMAWA) funding on Thursday, June 16, 2022. The program is a community service and empowerment program initiated by student organizations and facilitated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemendikbudristek RI) through the Directorate of Learning and Student Affairs.
The fifteenth students work on the project titled “Conservation of Rare Medicinal Plants from the Mount Ijen Area through Student Partnership, Tamansari Tourism Village, and Banyuwangi Ijen Geopark.”
The team leader Farhad Ulil Absor explained that the program would be conservation of rare medicinal plants in Ijen Geopark. The purpose was to create medicinal plant conservation, an education center, and Ijen Geopark ecological and cultural tourism.
In this study, there were several rare plants that are going extinct, such as Selaginella doederleinii Hieron (chicken claw) and Cyathea contaminans (pile nail). Both are rarely seen due to the excessive village tourism development. However, the problem can be solved if ecological tourism could be utilized jointly with the medicinal plant potential.
“This way, we will be able to preserve the rare plants and give economic value to the surrounding community,” he said.
Maps and Zoning
Farhad continued that the empowerment will be started with mapping and determining conservation areas. Besides, training on medicinal plant cultivation and processing products from medicinal plants with economic value will also be conducted. It is closely related to the continuation of output by launching herbal cafes as a branding medium for the conservation of rare medicinal plants.
“It can also be used as an off-taker from the products of cultivation of rare medicinal plants,” he added.
In the future, he expected that the program would provide more insights into the community, particularly regarding medicinal plants. Thus, developing medicinal plants and establishing herbal cafe can help target communities maximize their income.
At last, Farhad said that the program is in-line with the actualization of the vision, mission, and grand design of the Synergy Cabinet of BEM KM SIKIA UNAIR, particularly the ‘empowering the community’ point. Besides, it also improves the soft skills of participants and builds networks with various related parties.
Author: Azka Fauziya
Editor : Binti Q. Masruroh
