Oday Kodariyah, Indonesia’s Conservation Champ, Preserves 900 Types of Medicinal Plants

The world is brimming with inspiring stories, and at Restor, we hear from impactful individuals daily. These remarkable people may not have blue-tick on social media, but they are recognized for their wisdom, influence, and tireless efforts. Last week, we had the privilege of interviewing one of these game-changers in Indonesia.

Oday Kodariyah, also known as ‘Mamah Oday’ was born on 28 March 1954. She is a graduate of the Chemical Engineering High School in Bandung, West Java. Oday is also a recipient of the 2018 Kalpataru Award in the category of Environmental Pioneer Preserving Genetic Resources of Medicinal Plants.

The experience of living with cervical cancer made Oday Kodariyah slowly fall in love with various Indonesian medicinal plants. She realized that preserving 900 types of medicinal plants and spreading them could benefit the world at large.

Relationship with nature

I first learned about nature and indigenous knowledge from my father. After him, my relationship with nature was rekindled when I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. My husband started looking for alternative remedies as I couldn’t stand the side effects of medicines. This is when I was first introduced to a medicinal plant, Dayak Onion. It is a traditional herbal medicine that has been used for generations, and from there on, I started learning that our indigenous knowledge and plants are precious and need to be preserved. This was the beginning of KTO Sari Alam.

Connecting indigenous wisdom with the latest science in restoring nature

There is more to herbal medicine than just harvesting it and turning it into capsules. An incredible amount of knowledge is needed to make quality medicine such as harvesting time, topography, water sources, and many others. Some of this knowledge is already contained in the indigenous teaching. Indigenous knowledge is as important as modern one. Many of the plants have become difficult to find, they’re disappearing. With finances in place, the first thing I did was to purchase land and started planting bamboo and herbs.

About KTO Sari Alam

The name "Sari Alam" from KTO (Medicinal Plant Garden) means "nature essences". Along the journey, my daughter who is a pharmacist joined me at Sari Alam where we combined the knowledge of traditional medicine with modern pharmacy.

Today, KTO Sari Alam is a center for consultation and treatment based on medicinal plants in Indonesia. Not only patients from within the country, patients from abroad also arrive. We use our medicinal plant garden as a medicinal plant collection, production, and clinic garden. The garden has three functions, namely preservation, development, and utilization.

Protecting Indonesia’s biodiversity: KTO Sari Alam's impact in the environmental movement

Indonesia is very rich in biodiversity. Thus, also rich in flora that can be used for herbal medicine. We shall not lose our indigenous knowledge and herb species, as this is also a way for us to tackle health problems as an effect of climate change. If we lose nature, we lose our remedies.

Talking about the impact, to date, there have been more than 900 types of medicinal plants, 418 specimen collections of medicinal plants from 102 families (tribes), and 341 species that have been collected in the Sari Alam Medicinal Plant Garden (KTO) with an area of 21.35 hectares. Apart from promoting the benefits of Indonesian medicinal plants, we actively study various ins and outs of medicinal plants, both traditional and scientific.

Using Restor, KTO Sari Alam learns about the biodiversity present in the garden. According to the data on Restor, KTO Sari Alam has a potential of over 3,000 plants, and over 100 mammal species. You can explore more about the site and its features using various data layers here.

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Place of interview: KTO Sari Alam, Ciwidey, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia

Information gathered by: Annisa Satwika, Regional Engagement Lead at Restor.