| The hypothesis that plant materials are selected and valued for use in traditional remedies based on their biological activity was examined in the context of the health, culture, and environment of the Kenyah people of the Apo Kayan Plateau, East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. In an ethnobotanical survey conducted in three Kenyah villages in the Apo Kayan, 403 remedies involving 203 species of plants were documented. Locally important remedies and taxa were identified, and the distribution of knowledge within the Kenyah communities was evaluated using a new quantitative medicinal importance value index based on consensus.;Plants with a high importance value as malaria remedies (IV;The relationship between Kenyah selection of medicinal materials from the surrounding Apo Kayan flora according to locally defined plant attributes, their medicinal importance value (IV), and biological activity was investigated through field bioassays for larvicidal, antifungal, and phototoxic activity using brine shrimp (Artemia salina Leach) and brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The distribution of biological activity within the medicinal flora suggests selection by the Kenyah for antifungal activity. Within the medicinally used flora, biologically active tissues are selected over inactive tissues. Biological activity is significantly related to medicinal importance value (IV) at the levels of plant part (;A model combining traditional science and modern science to identify priorities for research on safe and effective uses of traditional remedies, and conservation of medicinal plant and animal resources, is proposed. |
