Community Empowerment in Developing Family Medicinal Plants to Realize a Green Economy Based on Local Wisdom

Abstract

Herbal medicine, as a traditional practice, has become a form of local wisdom among the Indonesian people that needs to be preserved and developed to maintain family and community health. This study aims to design an empowerment program that supports the development of health clinics and herbal tourism based on local wisdom. The research employs Participatory Learning and Action, with data collected through observation, interviews, discussions, and documentation. The research site is the herbal health clinic and herbal tourism area in Kalibakung Village, Balapulang District, Tegal Regency, Central Java Province. Informants were selected purposively, including herbal health tourism managers, family health empowerment groups, integrated service posts, farmer groups, small business groups, academics, and journalists. Data were analyzed qualitatively using reduction, triangulation, and verification techniques. Findings show that herbal medicine, as a traditional practice, represents a form of local wisdom that has long been embedded in Indonesian society and should be preserved and developed to maintain family and community health. Local governments must initiate and facilitate the implementation of such empowerment in collaboration with social institutions, universities, and herbalists through awareness campaigns, counseling, training, and assistance on herbal plant cultivation. Empowerment programs as a medium of participatory communication are crucial to enhance community motivation, understanding, and skills in cultivating medicinal plants, thereby improving socio-economic welfare and supporting the development of health clinics and herbal tourism.