Medicinal plants research in Asia continues to receive significant national and international attention, particularly concerning its multiple roles in poverty alleviation and health care support. However, scientific information on the institutional arrangements, the potentials of different medicinal plants production systems, and the utilization methods, remain highly fragmented. This incomprehensive information base shades the development of a comprehensive research agenda to improve the current body of knowledge, at least in the context of Asia. To address this impasse and propose future research perspectives, we systematically reviewed 247 journal articles, 15 institutional reports, and 28 book chapters. From the reviews, five key lessons are drawn: (i) Asian medicinal plant production systems demonstrate some dynamics, characterized by a gradual but continuous shift from wild gathering to cultivation, (ii) sub-regional variations exist with regards to the appreciation of medicinal plants potentials for traditional healing, modern healthcare, and livelihoods support, (iii) knowledge on the effect of multi-scale institutional arrangements (formal and informal) on medicinal plant management practices is fragmented, (iv) very few studies dwell on the challenges of medicinal plants commercialization, particularly with regards to the role of middlemen, boom–bust cycle, raw material readiness, and product quality, and (v) law enforcement, benefit and knowledge sharing, and research and development should be prioritized to serve the interest of medicinal plants production actors. To further extend the body of knowledge on medicinal plants in Asia, we advance the need for empirical investigations on the performance of medicinal plants production systems and their contribution to livelihoods in diverse institutional contexts.

The Tau Taa Vana people live in the Bulang Highlands, Tojo Una-Una, in Central Sulawesi Province. The region's development has shaped the marginalization of forest-dwelling and forest-adjacent communities. From the 1980s to the 1990s, illegal logging networks served as the power holders, backed by Indonesia’s authoritarian regime of that time. Illegal logging destroyed a large part of the Tau Taa Vana's sacred forest (pengale kapali). As part of the massive logging agenda, the government launched many legal programs that further isolated the Tau Taa Vana people from their land. The first program was transmigration in 1995-1998, which converted sacred forests into plantation areas and worker camps. Meanwhile, the Tau Taa Vana people were forced to relocate from their forest livelihoods (pengale lipu). In 2014, development shifted towards government-supported gold and nickel extraction identified in the Tau Taa Vana people's traditional regions. The government's planned material extraction of the region has forced the Tau Taa Vana people to adapt traditional environmental management systems. In the past, the forest had three main functions, as the source of food, medicine, and livelihoods. Nowadays, those functions are reduced drastically and the sacred forest with the Kaju Marangka'a region as the center has lost its cultural importance. Tau Taa Vana people today use the remaining forests as the center of their resistance movements and consider it as their last bastion for cultural preservation. In this regard, the role of traditional healers (tau valia) has become even more critical amidst the lack of traditional elders.

Medicinal plants’ production systems in Indonesia’s rural Java play a crucial role in sustaining local livelihoods and healthcare needs. Medicinal plants are managed by locals independently based on household preferences and endowments through wild gathering and cultivation-based production systems. However, these situations create a continual problem of weak bargaining positions. Thus, this study aimed to assess local needs and potential in supporting medicinal plants production systems management in Java, Indonesia, with the view to advance local actors' perspectives in a multistakeholder platform. The Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) approach proved useful in incorporating local knowledge in the planning and development of strategies. We implemented PRA techniques, such as problem identification based on a cause-and-effect diagram, group discussion and brainstorming, preference ranking of priority species, and a Venn diagram based on stakeholders' classification. These were carried out with 150 local actors from four villages. Results reveal that Candlenut tree are the preferred species in the wild gathering system, while Javanese turmeric and Broadleaf plantain are preferred in the cultivation-based production systems. Urgent interests include more lucrative gathering and cultivation, a remunerative market, and a reliable local economic institution. The PRA results demonstrate that local actors' involvement is highly required in administering production systems to enhance medicinal plants’ sustainable production and management.