Making the most of Papua New Guinea’s biodiversity: Establishment of an integrated set of programs that link botanical survey with pharmacological assessment in “the land of the unexpected”

Barrows, Louis R.; Matainaho, Teatulohi; Ireland, Chris M.; Miller, Scott E.; Carter, G. T.; Bugni, Tim S.; Rai, P.; Gideon, Osia; Manoka, Billy; Piskaut, Pius; Banka, Radhika; Kiapranis, Robert; Noro, J. N.; Pond, Christopher D.; Andjelic, Cynthia D.; Koch, Michael; Harper, Mary Kay; Powan, Emma; Pole, Ann; Jensen, James B.

doi:10.1080/13880200902991599

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The medicinal plant surveys reported here are the product of collaboration amongst the faculty at UPNG with support provided by the University of Utah, the Fogarty International Centre of the NIH, USA (Barrows et al, 2009), and the PNG Ministry of Health. The survey reports represent university training exercises that are components of a larger integrated strategy that is under way to meet the health care needs of citizens of PNG.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in the Siwai and Buin districts of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville

Waruruai

Sipana

Koch

et al. 2011

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ethnopharmacological relevance Traditional knowledge of medicinal plant use in many regions of Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville is poorly described and rapidly disappearing. A program initiated by the University of Papua New Guinea to systematically document and preserve traditional knowledge of medicinal plant use was initiated with WHO help in 2001. Aim of the study To document and compare medicinal plant use in the Siwai and Buin Districts of the Island of Bougainville. Siwai and Buin districts represent two adjacent geographic regions of differing language traditions. Materials and methods This report is a combination of two University of Papua New Guinea reports generated using a University of Papua New Guinea and Papua New Guinea Department of Health approved survey questionnaire “Information sheet on traditional herbal reparations and medicinal plants of Papua New Guinea”. Results Although Siwai and Buin Districts are adjacent in Southern Bougainville, there is considerable variation in the specific plants used medicinally and the specific uses of those plants that are used commonly in the two regions. In addition, many of the plants used in the region are widely distributed species that are used medicinally in other settings. Nevertheless, the high endemicity of plants and the extraordinary cultural diversity in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville has yielded description of the medicinal use of many plants that have not previously been reported in the wider scientific literature. Conclusions Efforts to document and preserve traditional knowledge of plant use in Papua New Guinea have yielded important new records of plants with potential application in the provision of health care for a developing nation with an under developed Western style rural health care system. This report documents substantial commonality in the general modes of medicinal plant preparation and in the health care applications of plant use in the Siwai and Buin traditions, however, there was considerable difference noted in the particular uses of the specific plants used in one or another of the districts.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in the Siwai and Buin districts of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville

Waruruai

Sipana

Koch

et al. 2011

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The aim is to promote integrated medical treatment options in an approach to health care that combines effective and accessible traditional practices with Western protocols (when available). The medicinal plant surveys reported here are the product of collaboration amongst the faculty at UPNG and the University of Utah, with support provided by the Fogarty International Center of the NIH, USA [38], and the PNG Ministry of Health. The Traditional Medicines survey project utilizes a university training tutorial as one component of a larger strategy aimed at providing improved health care options to a burgeoning population.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in the eastern highlands of Papua New Guinea

Jorim

Korape

Legu

et al. 2012

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundThe Eastern Highlands area of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a rich tradition of medicinal plant use. However, rapid modernization is resulting in the loss of independent language traditions and consequently a loss of individuals knowledgeable in medicinal plant use. This report represents a program to document and preserve traditional knowledge concerning medicinal plant use in PNG. This report documents and compares traditional plant use in the Eastern Highlands districts of Unggai-Bena, Okapa, and Obura-Wonenara, and puts these new records in context of previously documented PNG medicinal plant use.MethodsThis manuscript is an annotated combination of Traditional Medicines survey reports generated by UPNG trainees using a survey questionnaire titled “Information sheet on traditional herbal reparations and medicinal plants of PNG”. The Traditional Medicines survey project is supported by WHO, US NIH and PNG governmental health care initiatives and funding.ResultsOverall, after “poisoning” (synonymous with “magic”) the most commonly recorded ailments addressed by medicinal plant use were pain, gynecological disease, gastrointestinal maladies, anemia or malnutrition and malaria. However, the recorded indications for plant use varied widely amongst the different survey locations. Unlike many areas of PNG, mixing of ingredients was the most common mode of preparation recorded, except for two areas where the consumption of fresh plant material was more common. Throughout the Eastern Highlands oral administration was most common, with topical application second. Overall, leaves were most commonly used in the preparations of the healers interviewed, followed by bark and stems. Several new medicinal uses of plants were also documented.ConclusionsCollaboration between the WHO, UPNG and the PNG Department of Health initiated Traditional Medicine survey program in order to preserve traditional knowledge concerning medicinal plant use in PNG. This effort promotes integration of effective and accessible traditional practices with Western protocols. The Traditional Medicine surveys are particularly important because, in the absence of the clinical validation, the documentation of the consistent use of a given plant for specific indication by a large number of herbalists, across a wide range of ethnic traditions, maybe considered as a positive criterion for the promulgation of said use amongst PNG’s recently formed traditional healer associations.

show abstract

“…The New Guinea types (NHM) were sampled as a basic part of a large project (GONGED: Geometridae of New Guinea Electronic Database; Holloway et al 2009) to create a digital compilation of data for all geometrid species known from New Guinea (including some undescribed but clearly distinct taxa), with images of external characters of both sexes and characters of genital and abdominal morphology from slide-mounted preparations (Barrows et al 2009;Holloway et al 2009;Miller 2014a). When new dissections (preparation of genitalia) were required, we retained the remnant tissue for DNA analysis.…”

Section: Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calibrating the taxonomy of a megadiverse insect family: 3000 DNA barcodes from geometrid type specimens (Lepidoptera, Geometridae)

Hausmann

Miller

Holloway

et al. 2016

Genome

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It is essential that any DNA barcode reference library be based upon correctly identified specimens. The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) requires information such as images, geo-referencing, and details on the museum holding the voucher specimen for each barcode record to aid recognition of potential misidentifications. Nevertheless, there are misidentifications and incomplete identifications (e.g., to a genus or family) on BOLD, mainly for species from tropical regions. Unfortunately, experts are often unavailable to correct taxonomic assignments due to time constraints and the lack of specialists for many groups and regions. However, considerable progress could be made if barcode records were available for all type specimens. As a result of recent improvements in analytical protocols, it is now possible to recover barcode sequences from museum specimens that date to the start of taxonomic work in the 18th century. The present study discusses success in the recovery of DNA barcode sequences from 2805 type specimens of geometrid moths which represent 1965 species, corresponding to about 9% of the 23 000 described species in this family worldwide and including 1875 taxa represented by name-bearing types. Sequencing success was high (73% of specimens), even for specimens that were more than a century old. Several case studies are discussed to show the efficiency, reliability, and sustainability of this approach.Key words: Lepidoptera, Geometridae, taxonomy, type specimens, DNA barcoding. Résumé :Il est essentiel que toute collection de codes à barres de l'ADN soit fondée sur des spécimens correctement identifiés. Le Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) exige de l'information comme des images, le géoréférencement, ainsi que des détails sur le musée qui héberge le spécimen de référence pour chaque entrée de code à barre afin d'aider dans le repérage de possibles erreurs d'identification. Néanmoins, il y a des identifications erronées ou incomplètes (au genre ou à la famille) au sein de BOLD, surtout pour les espèces des régions tropicales. Malheureusement, il manque souvent d'expertise pour corriger des assignations taxonomiques faute de temps ou de spécialistes pour plusieurs groupes d'espèces et régions. Néanmoins, des progrès considérables pourraient être réalisés si les entrées pour tous les codes à barres étaient disponibles pour tous les spécimens de référence. En raison d'avancées récentes dans les protocoles analytiques, il est maintenant possible de récupérer des séquences de codes à barres à partir de spécimens muséaux datant des débuts de la taxonomie au 18 ième siècle. Le présent travail fait état des succès rencontrés dans l'obtention de codes à barres de l'ADN à partir de 2805 spécimens de référence de papillons géomètres représentant 1965 espèces. Ces échantillons correspondent à environ 9 % des 23 000 espèces décrites au sein de cette famille à l'échelle mondiale et inclut 1875 taxons représentés par des spécimens portant un nom. Un niveau élevé de succès (73 % des spécimens) a été renco...

show abstract

Making the most of Papua New Guinea’s biodiversity: Establishment of an integrated set of programs that link botanical survey with pharmacological assessment in “the land of the unexpected”

Cited by 6 publications

References 27 publications

An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in the Siwai and Buin districts of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville

An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in the Siwai and Buin districts of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville

An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in the eastern highlands of Papua New Guinea

Calibrating the taxonomy of a megadiverse insect family: 3000 DNA barcodes from geometrid type specimens (Lepidoptera, Geometridae)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About