Journal of Tropical Forest Science 12(4):810-816 (2000) MEDICINA OTHED LAN R USEFUL LUNDAYEE PLANTTH F O S H COMMUNITY OF SIPITANG, SABAH, MALAYSIA Julius Kulip, George Majawat Sandakan Herbarium, Forestry Research Centre, P. O. Box 1407, 90715 Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia & Johnlee Kulik District Forest Office, P. O. Box 37, 89857 Sipitang, Sabah, Malaysia world'e Morth f eo s thadevelopin n % populatioi n60 % 80 d gnan countries (Raven 1992, 1993) depend directl plantn yo their sfo r medicines Unitee th n .I d States, one-fourtl al f ho prescriptions dispensed contain active ingredients extracted from plants and medicinal plants are now considered within the global biodiversity strategy (Raven 1992). In Sabah, enthnobotanical survey n medicinao s l plants have been carriey b t dou Ahmad and Raji (1991), Guntavid (1992) and Kulip (1999). A total of about 200 plant species which are used by Kadazandusun and Murut ethnic communities in treating various ailments are reported. As the information of indigenous traditional knowledge is being lost at a faster rate than species and habitat (Prance & Blick 1990), we felt that it is timely to do this study to preserve the medicinal and other useful plant biodiversity of the Lundayeh people. The study aims to record and discuss as much as possible the existing indigenous traditional knowledge of the Lundayeh community in order to ensure its continuity. The data were collected during three visits by the authors to the Lundayeh villages in Sipitang district, Sabah Aprin i , l 1996, January 199 Aprid 7an l 1997 tea.A fouf mo r carried out the interviews, with one researcher taking notes, two others collecting plants, while anothe e kepe conversatioon rth t n flowing wit e intervieweeshth . Interviews were conducted primaril LundayeMalan yn i i d yan h wit hel e translatora h th f po . Collectiof no specimen primard san foreste yth carriedats n i .a t wa Vouche dou r herbarium specimens were indentified by the first author following Mabberley (1993) and deposited in the herbariu Forestre th f o my Department Sabah, Sandakan. Since ethnomedicins i e considered to be a profession by some members of the Lundayeh community, practitioners r personwerpe ey 20-4paida ,M dependinr dR 0pe numbee th n go specimensf o r they provided. Nevertheless, we paid the same amount to those who helped us. Ailments recorded were referred to Roper (1992), and Pescar and Nelson (1996) guidelines. This stud conductes ywa differen3 1 t da t Lundayeh villages distributed withi districe nth t Sipitangf o selectee .Th d villages include Ranau-Ranau. dKg Bahagia. ,Kg Ser. ,iKg Menanti, Kg. Kaban Ulau. Samin. ,Kg ,Kg Kawan. ,Kg g Lam Barud Bamban. aan ,Kg Mendulong. ,Kg , Kg. Solob, Kg. Long Mio and Kg. Long Pa Sia. Lundayeh if translated literally means hill people e inhabitantTh . thesf so e selected villager mostle Lundayee sar th f yo h community who once originated from Kalimantan, Indonesia, then migrated to Sipitang, Sabah. They eventualld firsan ta Lon. settleSi a Kg y gP t dspreaa otheo t d r village Sipitangn i s e Th . distances of the selected villages from Sipitang town ranged from 11 to 120 km. Agriculture maie isth n activit mosn yi t villages with padhilt lwe i pad planted an i theis da r staple food. 810 Journal of Tropical Forest Science 12(4):810-816 (2000) 811 Data obtained from field survey summarisee sar Tabledn i (C)d an (A) .s1 ) Ther (B , e ear 45 complaints recognised, ranging from pain in abdomen to wounds. Plants utilised by the Lundayeh community represen wida t e rang f familieo e d generaan s familie3 3 : f o s medicinal plants (50 species), 13 families of food plants (20 species) and 3 families of other uses (3 species). There are two species found to have more than one use, i.e. Helminthostachys zeylanica (used for medicine and vegetable) and Donax canniformis (the fruit is edible and outee th r bar s parit useks f i handicraft)t r o dfo . This great diversit specief yo s appeare b o st an adaptation that helps to ensure a year-round supply of food and medicine. Most of the Lundayeh food comes from their agricultural fields, nearby forest supplemented san y db dooryard gardens. Dooryard gardens represent place f enthno-botanicaso l traininr gfo youne th g ensurin e transfeg th t leas a f to r some edinobotanical information froe mon generation to the next. mucLundayeht e th lef e No f ho ar t traditional medicinal plantpresene th s sa t generation depends very much on modern medicine though food and other economic plants are still very popular. Thi coms sha e about throug eradicatioe hth plantf no s durin openine gth g of land for agriculture and many no longer pay attention to those plants as the majority of tribe th e have embraced various religion havd san e adopted other religious traditions sa their own eldere .Th stil e sar l practisin knod gcurative an wth e aspect community'e th f so s plant lore. Dependin typ e severitd th e an n g o illnessf yo , they will access botr eitheo he ron of thes treatmeno etw t systems. Traditional medicine usualle sar e usee firse b th yf dth o i t t hospital is very far and inaccessible or the treatment is expensive. Modern medicine is popular among those villages near Sipitang township mobile .Th e clinic usually visit. sKg Mendulun Solo. Kg bd oncgan weekea , wherea flyine sth g doctor usually visit Lon. sKg a gP Sia and Kg. Long Mio once a month. These two health systems have been able to coexist despite their different views and approaches in curing illness. Sommedicinae th f eo l plants describe thin di s stud stile yar l very popular amone gth community r examplfo , e Hydnophytum formicarium (Rubiaceae r popularlo ) y knows na angang for curing cancer, Blumea balsamifera (Compositae) or ipong for flatulence and post-partum treatmen Garnotiad an t acutigluma (Gramineae e treat th u bul r -ud ufo r )o men f venereao t l diseases. Patients preferre curee b thesf o dt do e disease traditionay sb l methods rather than going to the hospital. Continued Lundayeh's reliance on ethno- medicine is likely due to traditional values, culture, successful use of herbal remedies and isolation from major health care centres. There are three medicinal plants identified in this study that are a new record for Sabah in terms of herbarium collection and no similar medicinal use has been described by major sources. The plants are Hydnophytum formicarium, Garnotia acutigluma and Lophatherum gracile. Forest logging in Sipitang district has had a negative impact not only on the forest ecosystem but also on the way of life of the Lundayeh who depend on the forest for livelihood. Forest loggin s causegha d many species use traditionas da l medicines, food plant othed san r use becomo st e scarc thud ean s difficul obtain.o t t Consequently, people forcee ar fino dt d other source othen si Lawas ra r areafa s s (Sarawak)sa r otheo , r species as a substitute. The migration of the Lundayeh people out of their villages is now greater than evere increasTh . migration i e f youno n g Lundayeh peopl outside th o et e world will undoubtedly exacerbat e los f eth traditionao s l Lundayeh plant knowledge, especiall thin yi s cas f medicinao e l plants. Studies like thiimportane ar s timeld an t y because they provide a written record of plant-use practices of ethnic groups whose plant lore is fast disappearing. 812 Journal of Tropical Forest Science 12(4):810-816 (2000) Acknowledgements We thank all the village people involved especially the informants for generously imparting their traditional knowledge of plant uses without which this documentation would not have been produced. We are also grateful to our dedicated colleagues, especially Daring Lasong (Sipitang Forestry Office) who was our translator, and Lajiman Wasai, Ubaldus Majawa Samod an l r Kulali fro Forestre mth y Research Centr their efo r assistance in conductin fieldworke gth . References AHMAD, F. & RAJI, H. 1991. Penggunaan ubatan tradisional oleh suku kaum di Sabah. Pp. 80-92 in Khozirah, S., Azizol, A. K. & Abdul Razak, M. A. (Eds.) Proceedings of the Seminar on Medicinal Products from Tropical Rain Forest. FRIM, Kepong. GUNTAVID . 1992P . J , . 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