Indonesia needs to learn from the traditional agricultural practices of local ethnic groups if the nation wants to preserve its biodiversity and improve its agriculture, a scientist says. Yohanes Purwanto, a scientist from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said Indonesia had a wide variety of local
cultivars that were a resource for improving crop varieties. But, the government has paid little attention to the importance of safeguarding local cultivars, Yohanes said.
In an inaugural speech titled “Ethnobotanical Values for Sustainable Development” given by Yohanes upon his appointment as a research professor at LIPI, he said, “Many local cultivars in Indonesia are in danger of disappearing.” Yohanes was appointed a research professor along with two other scientists: Tukirin Partomihardjo, who studies ecology and evolution, and Johanis Haba, who studies anthropology. Yohanes was recognized for his consistent work on ethnobotany, his research revealing how plants have been used traditionally and understood among various ethnic groups in Indonesia.(...)

The article:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/01/04/knowledge-local-plants-offers-numerous-benefits.html

A book: "The ecology of Papua":

http://books.google.it/books?id=3COglsy1NxgC&pg=PA1125&lpg=PA1125&dq=Yohanes+Purwanto&source=bl&ots=mkVRkJrspd&sig=GqBgHJKGShfg9lnEGRfI5Q3Jip8&hl=it&ei=2QImTZ_YI8OQswbjx8TMAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CF4Q6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=Yohanes%20Purwanto&f=false

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The purposes and teaching of Applied Ethnobotany:

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001458/145847e.pdf

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Examples from the world:

http://www.bgci.org/education/1769/

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T6X-4VJ4FMC-4&_user=10&_coverDate=04%2F30%2F2009&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1598627273&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=e8a7f4042b4d402148584f9aec9beef4&searchtype=a

http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1579/0044-7447%282007%2936%5B406:ESACOT%5D2.0.CO%3B2

http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=2&tax_level=1&tax_subject=298

http://www.globalsciencebooks.info/JournalsSup/08FEC_2_SI1.html