Mayor seeks help to save Banaue rice terraces

By Dexter A. See

BANUAE, Ifugao — The mayor of this tourist town is seeking the help of the national government and international community for the preservation of the famed but endangered Banaue rice terraces to boost the tourism industry that had placed the province in the map of most preferred places worldwide.

”We need the help of the national government and even the international community to preserve the rice terraces of our municipality which is now on the state of deterioration because of various natural and man-made activities,” said Mayor Jerry Dalipog.

He said many private owners of the rice terraces cannot attend to their land anymore because they have found better sources of livelihood and that their children are also studying in different schools outside the province.

Dalipog added they old to farm the terraces, their children are going to school while others are working elsewhere which has left the rice terraces barren and invaded by pests.

"If there are no palay planted, what will the tourists see? The terraces are not worth viewing for if there is no rice planted in it," Dalipog said.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is bent on delisting the rice terraces in the municipality adding it is an endangered heritage site because the terraces have rapidly deteriorated through the years because their owners are no longer tending the same considering they have other pressing priorities rather than attending to it he said.

The UNESCO team, he added, will be coming back next year to evaluate the status of the terraces, thus, the need for concerned government agencies, local governments and even the private owners of the terraces to come out with a preservation plan that will bring back the grandeur of the world heritage site to convince the UNESCO team to retain the rice terraces as a scenic world heritage site to enhance the local tourism industry.