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POTENTIAL OF LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES:A POSSIBILITY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?83form rather than in essence. Adaptation can take placewith the help of education and information.Local Wisdom in Herbal Plants and HerbalMedicine: The Indonesian ExperienceIn 1982 the government of the Republic of Indonesiaannounced a new National Health Policy, (ministerialregulation Keputusan menteri kesehatan RI No.99a /Menkes /SK/III /1982 Tgl. 2 maret 1982) with the goalto make all citizens healthy by various means. Becausethe country lacked modern medical personnel, stresswas placed on primary health care, including themedicinal use of plants, animals and minerals. Thehealth ministry launched the Tanaman obat keluargaprogram (Family Medicinal Garden Program)throughout the country. This program holds thatevery Indonesian household should cultivate a herbalgarden to provide for basic prevention and healinghealth needs. The program is similar to Thailand’sHerbs For Fundamental Health Care project. But inIndonesia the responsible agency, the Subdivision ofFolk Medicine and Alternative Medicine, waspromoted to a Division in 2011. The Division plans toreactivate and strengthen the program.In 2007 Jamu was declared an Indonesian nationalbrand by the then President Susilo BambangYudhoyono. The government now supports theindustrialization of jamu. Educational institutions andstudy programs have been set up. But little has beendone in relation to jamu as local wisdom.In 2009, according to Health Law No.36, FolkMedicine was declared a part of the National HealthService. In 2010, the central government launched atleast 12 special clinics in state hospitals providingservices based on traditional medicine. Practitioners ofmodern or western medicine have been trained toprescribe herbs or traditional medicine. But thisprescribed medicine is concentrated on fitofarmaka,traditional and herbal medicine developed withmodern technology. That means ordinary people,especially folk doctors, cannot take a significant part inthe campaign.Yet the possibility to be an active part of the NationalHealth Service is not yet totally closed. According toan official regulation of Indonesian Food and DrugOrganization, declared in 2004, three kinds of herbalor traditional medicine can be registered as allowed.1. Jamu, or empirically-based herbal medicine.2. Obat herbal terstandar, or scientific-based herbalmedicine3. Fitofarmaka, or clinically-based herbalmedicine. This kind of medicine is mostlyprescribed by doctors in state hospitals.All medicine traded in public markets must have a logoidentifying clearly one of these three registrationcategories.The criticism of this standardization is as follows: Thecataloging is on the one hand “good” and practical,because consumers can make their own decisionsabout which mode of production of traditionalmedicine they chose. It is a kind of guarantee by thestate. On the other hand, the cataloging introduces akind of discrimination. Traditional practitioners withempirical experience but no means of gettingregistration due to lack of “knowledge” and“technology” are kept out of the system. So the largepharma industries will automatically be given morechance to make increased profits and eventuallyperhaps a monopoly in the health care service.Epilogue:Observations on Local food: Wisdom is slowlydissolved in an ‘Age of Change’Changes in local food consumption patterns mayresult in a loss of local knowledge about traditionalfood systems.1. Consumption of more vegetables and food is madeeasier due to the exchange of money. Consumers havea wide degree of choice due to open markets. Howmany people will still go to the forests to collect foodsand vegetables?2. The increasing importance of education in theclassroom means generations of children in rural areasare removed from their original localities to attendschools and colleges in bigger villages, towns and cities.The transfer of local knowledge from grandparentsand parents to children is made more vulnerable. Thefuture generations, who should be “receivers” oftraditional wisdom, have little opportunity to learnwhat is known as the deep knowledge andunderstanding of their ancestors.The Work of the 2010/2011 API Fellows