The Banaue Rice Terraces in the Philippines are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and consist of four groups of Ifugao terraces. Some are over 2,000 years old and are fed by irrigation systems. They are endangered due to modern farming methods and erosion, requiring ongoing maintenance. Visiting is possible but requires a hike into the countryside.
The Banaue Rice Terraces are artificial terraces carved into the mountains of the island of Luzon, in the Philippines. They are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and have been since 1995. Since 2001 they have been classified as an endangered site.
The full name of the site is Banaue Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, which consists of four distinct groups of Ifugao terraces: the Banaue Terraces of Batad and Bangaan, the Mayoyao Terraces, the Klangan Terrace of Nagacadan, and the Hungduan Terrace. Some of these terraces are over two thousand years old, making them some of the oldest surviving examples of terraced agriculture.
The Banaue rice terraces are distinguished from other terraces in the region mainly by the altitude at which they are cut, as well as the extent to which they have been developed. They are approximately 5,000 feet (1,500 m) above sea level and cover more than 4,000 square miles (10,000 square km). Also notable is the slope of the hills in which they are engraved. At times the slope is nearly seventy degrees, substantially steeper than almost all other examples of this type of step farming.
In Ifugao mythology, the knowledge to build the Banaue rice terraces is said to have been given by the god Dinipaan of Pahaadan to the hunter brothers Kabigat and Balitok, sons of Inuki and Tadona, of Kiangan.
The Banaue Rice Terraces are truly amazing examples of ancient man’s abilities to shape his environment. They are referred to by many Filipinos as the eighth wonder of the world, and seeing them spread out in front of you, it’s hard to disagree with this assessment. The Banaue Rice Terraces are fed by a series of irrigation systems that come from the rainforests at the tops of the ridges.
The Banaue Rice Terraces have survived because they have continued to be used by the locals for the past two millennia. Rice and vegetables can be grown on the terraces quite densely, making great use of the limited land area of the islands. The terraces require substantial maintenance to combat erosion and decay, but as long as they remained an integral part of the islands’ food supply, that work made perfect sense.
In recent years, young people have begun to move away from their parents’ traditional farming practices, instead turning to more modern farming methods and imports. As they have abandoned traditional methods, the rice terraces of Banaue have started to erode where they are not being maintained. For this reason, in 2001, UNESCO included the Banaue Rice Terraces on the list of endangered sites. While some effort is being made to restore them, it is not as simple as many architectural sites, requiring only an influx of money to restore stone facades, install support structures and remove debris. Instead, saving the Banaue Rice Terraces would require a lifestyle change for many people, as their maintenance must be a regular and ongoing project.
Visiting the Banaue Rice Terraces is easy enough, even if they are a bit out of the way. Most people start with the terraces in the city of Bangaan. The various cities can be reached by car, although the roads can be daunting to those unfamiliar with driving in rural Philippines. Once in the city, the terraces stretch out in all directions and it is simply a matter of taking a hike into the picturesque countryside.
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