27/04/2006 - Gland, Switzerland
– Plants that could help treat or cure diseases
such as cancer, AIDS and malaria have been found
in the forests of the heart of Borneo, according
to a new WWF report. But the global conservation
organization says this medical treasure trove
is threatened and calls for its long-term protection.
The report — Biodiscoveries,
Borneo's Botanical Secret — reveals that scientists
are currently testing samples collected in the
Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, as well
as in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo.
They hope to develop drugs that could contribute
to the treatment of major, deadly human diseases.
According to the report, Cerylid
Biosciences – an Australian pharmaceutical company
– has identified a promising anti-cancer substance
in a shrub found in Sarawak. A compound present
in the plant Aglaia leptantha has been found to
effectively kill 20 kinds of human cancer cells
in laboratory tests, including those that cause
brain and breast cancer, and melanoma.
“The fact that the compound
is very effective against a number of tumour cells,
presents a very good argument for preserving the
plant's habitat in Borneo,” said Dr Murray Tait,
Vice President of Drug Discovery at Cerylid Biosciences.
“More forest destruction could
well deny science the opportunity to discover
and develop further potential sources of life-saving
medication.”
Scientists also found a unique
chemical in latex produced by the Bintangor tree.
The compound, Calanolide A, appears to be effective
against the replication of the Human Immunodeficiency
Virus (HIV), as well as the tuberculosis bacterium,
which affects many AIDS patients. The discovery
is particularly important as, to date, no single
drug has been able to treat both HIV and TB. If
clinically proven, Calanolide A could be a major
development for the health of many millions of
people worldwide.
The report further says that
researchers found a powerful and previously unknown
anti-malarial agent in the bark of a local tree
traditionally used by the Kenyah people of Kalimantan
to treat malaria. The substance – a triterpenoid
– apparently kills the human malaria parasite
Plasmodium falciparum in laboratory tests.
According to WWF, 422 new plant
species have been discovered in Borneo in the
last 25 years, and many other species are waiting
to be found and studied, some of them could hold
potentially important medical properties. However,
the global conservation organization warns that
all these promising discoveries could be eventually
lost if the disappearing rainforests of the heart
of Borneo are not adequately protected.
“It takes a long time before
a substance found in a plant can be developed
as an efficient drug and used by doctors,” said
Dr Menno Schilthuizen, an associate professor
with the University Malaysia Sabah and the author
of the report. “I believe that hundreds of plants
have been screened, dozens of compounds have been
identified, but only a few of them are now clinically
tested.”
Indigenous peoples such as the
Kenyah can also potentially benefit from the development
of drugs based on their traditional knowledge.
The Convention on Biological Diversity, to which
Indonesia and Malaysia are both parties, stipulates
that indigenous communities should approve of
the use of their traditional knowledge and that
any benefits from its use should be shared equitably
with them. The Convention also recognizes the
sovereign rights of States over their genetic
resources so that the development of drugs or
other uses are subject to the laws of the country
of origin.
Today, only half of Borneo's
forest cover remains, down from 75 per cent in
the mid 1980s. But the three Bornean governments
– Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia –
have recently launched the Heart of Borneo initiative,
which aims to preserve approximately 220,000km2
of equatorial forests and numerous wildlife species.
“We hope that the Bornean governments
will sign a tri-country Declaration for the Heart
of Borneo very soon,” said Mike Kavanagh, Chief
Executive Director of WWF-Malaysia. “Such a declaration
would ensure long-term protection to a region
which might contain some of tomorrow’s most significant
medical discoveries.”
END NOTES:
• The “Heart of Borneo” is a
tri-country conservation initiative that aims
to preserve one of the most important centres
of biological diversity in the world, approximately
220,000km2 of equatorial forests and numerous
wildlife species. The three Bornean governments
– Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia –
officially launched the initiative and declared
their commitment to support it on 27 March 2006,
during the Eighth Conference of Parties Convention
of Biological Diversity, held in Curitiba, Brazil.
• At the 11th ASEAN Summit in
Kuala Lumpur in December 2005, the Heart of Borneo
was highlighted in the Chairman’s Statement endorsing
the establishment of a transboundary network of
protected areas in the Heart of Borneo. This meeting
is the highest decision-making organ of ASEAN
and the Chairman’s Statement is the official record
of the meeting and is endorsed by all ASEAN Heads
of Government.
• The Heart of Borneo is also
a flagship programme of the 5-year action plan
of BIMP-EAGA (Brunei Indonesia Malaysia Philippines
- East ASEAN Growth Area). This plan is endorsed
by the Heads of Government of all four countries.
• Assoc. Prof. Dr. Menno Schilthuizen
is a regular contributor to Science, ScienceNOW
and Natural History. He writes about evolutionary
biology, systematics and ecology. Over the past
ten years, his work in Borneo and other regions
has been regularly published in scientific journals
as well as popular science publications in English
and Dutch.
