Ethnography of traditional healers and their indigenous medicinal plants in southern Philippines: Implications for conservation and sustainable use

This paper investigates Indigenous medicinal plants, the threats they face and the healing knowledge and profiles of traditional healers in the Sarangani uplands, Southern Philippines. During field and community floral inventories, 39 medicinal plant species were documented, belonging to 18 orders, 20 families, and 31 genera. While this study unveiled diverse utilization of medicinal plants, interviewed healers unfortunately revealed local losses which they attributed to (1) climate change, (2) overharvesting, (3) forest denudation, and (4) the shift to over-the-counter medicines. Additionally, the gradual erosion of healing knowledge was ascribed to (1) Christianization suppressing traditional healing practice, (2) local losses of medicinal plants, (3) shift in culture and lifestyle brought by increasing market integration, (4) reluctance of tribal healers to share healing knowledge, (5) devaluation of Indigenous knowledge by the younger generation, (6) advanced ages of knowledge keepers, and (7) the oral nature of mentoring. Moreover, this paper reports that conservation was accomplished mainly through continuous utilization/cultivation and the judicious collection of medicinal plants. These efforts are, however, grossly insufficient and without complementary in situ and ex situ conservation initiatives, these invaluable genetic treasures will face local extinction. In addition to Sarangani’s medicinal plant losses, the valuable cache of associated traditional knowledge will likewise be lost, resulting in a culturally impoverished and less resilient community. Finally, to foster inclusivity, promote knowledge pluralism, and aid in the preservation of traditional healing knowledge, the involvement of healers in the crafting of a comprehensive healthcare strategy for Southern Philippines is recommended.