Holiday Ayo - Cultural Heritage Some time ago, jamu was declared an intangible cultural heritage (WBTB). This news was later confirmed by the Director General of Culture of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) Hilmar Farid.

“This is a little leak, yes, herbal medicine will be designated this year as an Intangible Cultural Heritage or Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO," he said, quoted by Antaranews. 

This is good news, that Jamu has finally succeeded in winning the WBTB title since being registered for this category on April 7 2023, along with six other nominations. 

Although he did not specify the official date for the announcement of the new title, Hilmar Farid confirmed that it would take place this year, which means there is one and a half months left. 

According to Hilmar, what is considered an Intangible Cultural Heritage is not herbal medicine from a particular region, but herbal medicine as a whole, especially the community's ability to create the herbal medicine themselves. 

He added, like other Indonesian cultures, herbal medicine is a cultural heritage that must be preserved. Herbal medicine is historically proven to be the original knowledge of the Indonesian people which has been used for thousands of years from generation to generation. 

Healthy Culture herbal medicine is a practice of maintaining health that is both preventive and promotive. 

Indonesian herbal medicine is the fruit of a historical journey of social civilization that cannot be separated from the cultural ties of the archipelago. 

“So what is designated as heritage is the people's ability to create it, so it is not the product or the object, but the skill of the person in concocting, concocting, and of course there are various techniques used, that is what is registered, it is the knowledge that is registered, not the product," explained Hilmar.