Ifugao State University assesses condition of rice terraces

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — Ifugao State University, through its Research and Development Center for the Ifugao Rice Terraces as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems, launched has a collaborative assessment of the Ifugao Rice Terraces to find out the conditions of the heritage site.

A number of studies and reports have claimed that the rice terraces are being threatened with a loss of indigenous flora and fauna, watershed destruction, unregulated land use conversion, reduced farm labor due to massive outmigration, abandonment and shift of economic activities and the loss of interest in culture and rice terracing by the younger generation.

These placed the IRT in the World’s Heritage Endangered List in 2001.

The new assessment is anchored on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) Framework by the United Nations akin to the Japan Satoyama Satoumi Assessment.  It attempts to collectivize all efforts among institutions and organizations for a consensus that will be the basis for political and societal measures to preserve the terraces.

RELATED: Chinese-built Banaue Rice Terraces? Lonely Planet under fire

The project team already started collaborative and partners meetings and workshops for the Nagacadan Rice Terraces Cluster in Kiangan, Ifugao. Other four GIAHS sites will follow.

"Results and findings of the assessment will serve as blueprint of the state of the Ifugao Satoyama that can be utilized perpetually for the next 50 to 100 years as it analyzes the current trends and conditions of biodiversity, ecosystem services and human wellbeing since 50+ years back while proposing plausible scenario responses," said Eulalie Dulnuan, IFSU director for Research and Development for the IRT-GIAHS Center.

The project output will be endorsed to policy and decision makers for adoption in their comprehensive development plans, conservation plans and executive-legislative agenda she said.

Ifugao is the only UNFAO-designated GIAHS site in the Philippines with five rice terraces clusters in Batad and Bangaan in Banaue; Nagacadan in Kiangan; Central Mayoyao in Mayoyao and the whole of Hungduan.