By: Bernadette E. Tamayo
April 10, 2008 [ journal.com.ph ]
SEN. Edgardo Angara wants to formulate a 10-year Cordillera Terraces Master Plan for the preservation and restoration of the world-renowned Ifugao Rice Terraces.
He filed a bill identifying measures to preserve and bring back the natural grandeur of the Ifugao Rice Terraces, which was placed in the World Heritage List in Danger in 2001.
The major components of the 10-year Cordillera Terraces Master Plan are the restoration of the area’s terraces, the protection and maintenance of ecological balance, the rehabilitation of the age-old irrigation systems and massive reforestation.
“The Ifugao Rice Terraces is known worldwide as the 8th Wonder of the Old World and the country’s prime tourist destination. They are the living testament to the Ifugaos’ mastery of watershed ecology, terrace engineering, and water distribution. Unfortunately, the condition of the terraces has continuously deteriorated,” Angara said.
“The terraces of the Cordilleras are truly a rare engineering achievement and the Philippines is racing, nay, scrambling against time to save them from deterioration,” he stressed.
The Ifugao Rice Terraces and Cultural Heritage Office cited several factors causing the deterioration: loss of bio-diversity due to bio-piracy, unregulated hunting and indiscriminate use of new technology and introduction of new species; reduced farm labor due to increasing out-migration of farm labor force; erosion and siltation due to destruction of watershed; land use conversion and abandonment of rice terraces due to damaged rice terraces; and insufficient irrigation water supply, limited income from rice farming, shift in values and priorities of the people, unregulated land use and physical planning.
______________________________________________________________________
