Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras

• Negative impact on the site and its inhabitants due to increasing tourism
• Need for a long-term integrated development plan
• Continuing uncontrolled construction of shelters on the terraces
• Lack of an effective site management authority

In February 2002, the UNESCO National Commission for the Philippines informed the Centre, IUCN and ICOMOS that three significant projects were being organized:

a)   Review of the “Master Plan” and implementation of some of the components specified within it;

b)   Cultural and physical restoration projects of the Rice Terraces are being developed (approximately US$1,000,000);

c)   Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) project on reforestation and forest management .

Meanwhile, the Centre and the Advisory Bodies have continued to receive reports of uncontrolled construction of shelters on the terraces, as well as signs of climate-induced changes to the property as a whole.

On 9 March 2002, the Centre, IUCN and ICOMOS were informed that the BRTTF had been abolished, along with 60 other national agencies, by an Executive Order issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on 11 February 2002. The reason for the abolition of these bodies was given to streamline governmental services. Initial reports indicated that the Philippines National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA) assumed the overall authority and responsibility for the conservation, management and presentation of the Rice Terraces. However, the UNESCO National Commission for the Philippines informed the Secretariat in March 2002 that it was attempting to have the BRTTF absorbed into the Ifugao Provincial Governor’s office so that the Governor could provide the management focal point for the property and assume responsibility for managing funds and projects, while co-ordinating closely with the NCCA.

On 15 April 2002, the two Advisory Bodies received a Status Report on the BRTTF from the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines, recounting the results of a meeting between the Commission, the Ifugao Province Governor and BRTTF representatives:

·  The Governor has formally offered for his Office to absorb the functions and tasks of the BRTTF, through the establishment of a Management Unit responsible for the conservation of the Rice Terraces;

·  Two members of the BRTTF staff trained by the UNESCO-GIS project will be absorbed, if budget can be secured to ensure their salary, and additional staff will be assigned from the Governor’s office;

·  The National Commission welcomes this positive development which means that management of the property will be locally based (rather than being directed from the national level) and directly involve stakeholders;

·  The UNESCO Emergency Assistance Grant will be halted until the Management Unit has been set up and the complete transfer of BRTTF functions completed;

• The initial national restoration projects approved will proceed under the supervision of the NCCA.

IUCN expressed its concern that the management of the natural value of the site may suffer without an effective management body which has appropriate skills in resources and environmental management. ICOMOS shares this concern, since the cultural values of the site are equally threatened by the lack of an effective management structure. Management requires involvement of representatives from agencies responsible for natural resources and the environment, and in the case of the Rice Terraces, agriculture, as well as from the Provincial and Local authorities.