The Protected Landscape Approach - Centre for Mediterranean ...

7. WH inscription and challenges to the survival of community life in Philippine cultural landscapes
The irrigation system, a fine-tuned web of natural streams, catchments, ditches, sluices and
bamboo pipes that deliver water downhill, providing water evenly to each terrace, has suffered
extensive damage from the cyclical earthquakes that occur in the area. The frequent slight
tremors are enough to misalign the distribution system. Therefore constant repair is necessary
to keep the distribution system functional. The traditional system, constructed of natural
materials that possessed a pliability that allowed the irrigation network to adjust to minor earth
movements due to rain or slight earthquakes, was lost with recent experiments in repairing the
system with rigid concrete. The mistaken rationale is that concrete pipes are cheaper and easier
to lay when compared to a tediously constructed system built of natural materials that are no
longer available.
Architectural qualities are eroding as well. Clusters of villages with houses that had steep,
pyramidal roofs of thatch were the most striking features of landscape. They have practically
disappeared in recent years. A programme is proposed to replant thatch material as a first step
towards encouraging homeowners to re-thatch rather than replace thatch with gal vanized iron
sheets.
Since property ownership is reckoned on traditional practices, traditional boundaries still
delineate the World Heritage terrace clusters. ICOMOS-IUCN and the World Heritage
Committee accepted traditional boundaries when the nomination dossier was submitted.
However, to reinforce traditional knowledge with technology, a UNESCO-aided project is
underway for GIS mapping of the site to generate the nonexistent baseline data needed for site
management planning. The output of this project will fuse the traditional boundary system with
mapping of the terraces site. It also will provide the first detailed inventory of the site.
Since the In Danger inscription, national government through the National Commission for
Culture and the Arts has provided financial aid amounting to $1,000,000 for site rehabilitation
programmes. Management of the site has been taken over by the Office of the Ifugao Provincial
Governor, returning responsibility to the local community once again.
The Governor recognises that for the future existence of the terraces, it is essential to
continue the existing culture-based traditional practices that assure site maintenance. The
present focus at the Rice Terraces centres on cultural revival as the raison d’être for the
simultaneous educational, environmental, agricultural and reconstruction programmes being
implemented by national and local authorities. Furthermore, community participation has
finally been seen as the most important element in assuring the conservation of the terraces. The
first activity to be funded by an Emergency Assistance Grant from UNESCO was the
convening of a workshop to revisit and to update the Master Plan written by the Ifugao Terraces
Commission and to assure community participation in the revision of the Master Plan.
As a result of its inscription onto the In Danger list, the concerted preservation effort of the
Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras is focused on community participation. The primary
programme is to re-establish pride of place among the site residents and others who have
migrated away from the area. There are cultural revival programmes that introduce school
children to the native culture and remind older residents of the traditional knowledge of their
forebears. To centralize all site information, a GIS inventory is planned, with the preparation of
a land-use plan among the outputs expected. Community members are participating in pre -
paring a revised management plan for the site that will prioritize development projects that are
to be undertaken in the near future.
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