 From time immemorial, malaria has always been a major public health problem in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.  It was a threat to colonialism under the Western imperialistic occupations, hence, became one of the priorities of the colonialists not only to ‘help’ the local people but to match-forward ‘civilization’

 However, more than a century of war against malaria in Africa the burden of malaria is yet to be abated.  For instance, more than children below the age of five die from malaria every year in Nigeria (FMoH, 2009: 10) representing 30% of infant mortality (Okafor and Amzat, 2007: 156) and 25% of the global malaria deaths in children (Abdullahi et al. 2012; Abdullahi, 2011).

 Retrospectively, several years prior to colonial contacts, local people across African indigenous communities, including Nigeria, had coped with and managed the threat of malaria using indigenous knowledge of medicine (IKM).  However, IKM was discountenanced and became an object of ridicule under the colonial tutelage across African societies, including Nigeria, based on the belief that it was ‘unscientific’ and ‘backward’.

 However, use of IKM has continued to thrive and blossom in African most populous country, Nigeria, especially among local people who have lived very close to the forests where the ingredients for IKM are readily available without a cost.  This study examines local perceptions of the forest and management of malaria in rural Nigeria with a view to contribute to the on-going global discourses around indigenous knowledge (IK) preservation for sustainable development.

 Study Area  Okanle and Fajeromi in Ifelodun Local Government of Kwara State, Nigeria.  Data gathered in 2009 with a follow-up in An update was carried out in May  Both communities are rich in forest resources where livelihood depends.  Data Collection Techniques  Semi-Structured Interview (20), IDIs (10),  FGDs (2)  Sampling Techniques  Purposive Non-probability  Data Analysis Techniques  Content Analysis

The locals perceived the forests as a major part of their livelihood, identity and well-being. The locals are emotionally, spiritually and culturally attached to the forests. Apart from meeting their profane and daily needs, forests provide trees and plants that contain biological components which are transformed into medicines and health diet by the local people.

The majority of the caregivers believed that malaria in children could be manifested through: high body temperature, vomiting, headache, uncharacteristic quietness, loss of appetite and weight loss. It surfaces from this that there is a correspondence between biomedical construction of symptoms of malaria (uncomplicated) and community’s understanding of symptoms of malaria.

 Treatment of malaria in children usually commences at home with herbal medicines generally sourced from the forests with majority of parents ignoring the modern health facilities.  The therapies used comprised principally of local plants, bark of a tree and roots, which are usually boiled together to make malaria herbs known as agbo-iba. This is usually administered at least three times daily as long as the symptoms persisted.

 The efficacies of IKM in the management of malaria in children, including adults, were expressed by the majority of the respondents.  Statements such as “everybody in this village knows that I don’t take my children to the hospital” and that “most modern drugs are extracts from local trees and plants” are testimonies to the perceived efficacies.  Surprisingly, no specific individual persons regarded or known as traditional healers professionally trained in IKM. Almost everybody in the village is a “healer” as reported by a 70 year old grandfather.

 As the search for anti-malaria vaccines continues, the alternative drugs, usually the artemisinin based Combination Therapies (ACTs), are becoming too expensive for the poor people.  Indeed, IKM might hold the key to affordable, cheaper and better alternative therapies to malaria treatment in both children and the adults.