Medicinal, aromatic and cosmetic (MAC) plants for community health and bio-cultural diversity conservation in Bali, Indonesia

The general aim of this ethno-botanical study is to document, describe and analyse the Balinese community members' knowledge, belief and practices with regard to medicinal, aromatic and cosmetic (MAC) plants in relation to community health and bio-cultural diversity conservation of MAC plants. This study has been conducted in four sample villages in the central-south-eastern part of Bali, Indonesia. The Ethnosystems Approach used in this study places the emic point of view central in studying the human-plant relations in Bali and focuses on the Knowledge-Belief-Practice complex of the health and healing practices. This study acknowledges the - inextricable - link between nature, society, language and culture, conceptualised in the term bio-cultural diversity, expressing the relationship between biological and cultural diversity. The data collection and analyses using complementary qualitative and quantitative research techniques focuses on the community members' reported use of fresh MAC plants as home remedies in the wider context of the Balinese pluralistic medical configuration. In addition, it seeks to explain whether their behaviour exhibits a sustainable character towards both the conservation of the diversity of MAC plants in terms of genes, species and ecosystems and to the conservation of the local knowledge, beliefs and practical applications of the MAC plants