Poverty, erosion threaten famed RP rice terraces

Poverty, erosion threaten famed RP rice terraces

By David Thurber

BANAUE, Philippines (AP): Since a landslide washed away their land high in Banaue's stunning rice terraces, Antonia Kindipan has earned a small income helping her neighbors farm while her husband has left to work in another province.

Low incomes, landslides and water shortages are causing villagers like the Kindipans to abandon their plots in the 22,400 kilometers (14,000 miles) of beautiful terraces carved out of Banaue's steep mountainsides in the northern Philippines.

Without regular maintenance, the mud-walled terraces, one of the world's few surviving ancient wonders, begin crumbling, setting off a chain reaction of erosion and hardship for other farmers.

"They are already starting to deteriorate," says Banaue Mayor Tito Candelario. "Thirty years ago the grandeur of the rice terraces was magnificent. In 20 years' time, we do not know."

While everyone agrees that the cultural and tourism treasure should be protected, it's unclear who should -- or will -- pay the price.

Already, sections of the terraces, designated a world heritage site by UNESCO, have worn away, with jagged earth now showing where green rice stalks once swayed.

The terraces -- narrow strips of land that stretch like stairs high up the mountains -- are believed to have been built between 200 BC and 100 AD with only primitive tools in one of history's most remarkable construction and irrigation projects. If the retaining walls were placed end to end they would stretch nearly half way around the world, scientists say.

The early designers used hollowed-out bamboo tubes and complex mud channels to transport water from springs and streams to the terraces. The cooperation required by the sharing of water helped form the local Ifugao people into one of the Philippines' most cohesive and culturally tenacious tribal groups.

The Ifugao were one of the few Philippine peoples able to resist three centuries of Spanish colonial domination and maintain many of their traditional customs.

But what Spain failed to destroy is now being eroded by economic and environmental threats to the Ifugaos' lifestyle.

Farming the terraces -- too narrow and high in most places for even a water buffalo to plow -- is back-breaking work and the returns are meager.

"You can't grow enough food to live on for a whole year," Mrs. Kindipan says. "That's why many people are leaving to work in other places."

Young people

As communication and education have improved, fewer young people are willing to accept the rugged lifestyle of the terraces while watching lowlanders enjoy rising incomes and more comfortable lives.

"Because of education, the children, even if they stay here, refuse to work on the rice terraces," Mayor Candelario says.

Ironically, attempts by farmers to supplement their incomes have hastened the terraces' decline. Commercialization of the most common sideline occupation, wood carving, has led to increased logging in watersheds that in turn has caused water shortages, flooding and landslides.

"Already there is not enough water for irrigation because of the destruction of the watershed," says Dojoe Flores of the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, which operates development projects in Banaue.

Flores' group is urging farmers to adopt other sources of supplemental income, such as mushroom growing, that are less likely to damage the environment.

It says a solution also depends on the preservation of indigenous cultural practices, such as strict rules regarding the protection of watersheds.

"What we are saying is that development must not destroy the traditional practices," Flores says.

Since the terraces have become a tourism attraction, the Ifugao feel the government should help maintain them. Under a recent program, the government has begun repairing and constructing new irrigation systems.

But questions remain whether that will be enough if the terraces are unable to sustain an acceptable standard of living.

"This is a legacy from many years ago," Candelario says. "Somehow we must find a way to protect it."