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据不完全统计，目前全球有超过40亿人口使用中草药来治病，而一直以来人们认为中国是传统的中草药大国。事实上，澳大利亚本土人也在世代用中草药来治病健身，比如治疗疟疾的特效药奎宁就来源于一些传统的草药金鸡纳。

For generations the Yaegl Aboriginal people in northern New South Wales have been using readily available native Australian plants as traditional medicinal cures.

A Yaegl elder Carmel Charlton says one of the treatments she was taught while growing up was a plant used by those sufferering from arthritis.

"Yeah the arthritis plant too that's another one, that grows wild too everywhere. And anyone who's got arthritis, well Mum was telling me, you wash that and eat that. And if you don't like to eat it like that, you could cut it up you know, have it with lettuce, but they used to cut it up and chew on it."

Practices like this are common among indigenous groups across Australia, but the Yaegl elders have decided to share their knowledge beyond their own community.

Some Yaegl elders are taking part in a research project with scientists from Sydney's Macquarie University, who are collecting, identifying, testing and documenting the plants used as traditional bush medicines.

Macquarie University Associate Professor is an expert in infectious diseases. He says there are many examples of traditional medicines being drawn upon to create modern treatments, including the use of quinine for malaria.

"The very classic thing is the treatment for malaria. For many years it is the bark of the cinchona tree and the quinine is obtained from that. So there are plenty of examples of traditional medicine having helped formulating modern medicines."

The researchers are aware that sometimes bush medicines work in combinations with other remedies, so a negative result in the lab doesn't necessarily mean a plant doesn't have positive medicinal properties for a human.

Macquarie University PhD researcher Joanne Packer says that results so far have been varied, but many plants have performed well in the tests.

"We've had mixed results, so there's been some plants that we've tested that look as if they've got quite good activity, others that haven't performed so well with the tests that we've done so far. But the thing is with a lot of these treatments they're quite holistic, so for a wound treatment it won't only be antibacterial necessarily, it could be anti-inflammatory, and I guess debriding, or have other properties that we haven't tested for yet."

Indigenous people are increasingly moving into towns with less access to plants and bush foods, and many young people are losing their cultural knowledge.

Vesper says she's glad to know the information has now been safely recorded for use by future generations.

"I reckon this will be good. Put it in a booklet, put it in a DVD or video and it'll be good because it lives on forever, and that's what I want. I want us to live on forever, keep it alive for our kids, for our next generation, next generation, for the future."

For CRI, I am Li Dong.

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