Analyzing the Spatio-temporal Changes of the Biocultural Landscape of Banaue, Philippines Using GIS

Abstract

The Ifugao Rice Terraces (IRT) of the Philippines are listed among UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites and are considered an outstanding example of an evolved, living cultural landscape. Dating back to several centuries, the rice terraces were carved out by the Ifugao, a group of indigenous people who inhabit the Cordillera mountains. To this day, the rice terraces have been tilled using age-old sustainable farming practices and planted with traditional rice varieties. Fittingly, the IRT has been recognized as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Site by the FAO. However, the FAO has drawn attention to the “very critical stage of deterioration” of the IRT. The continued survival of this eminent biocultural landscape is threatened by combined economic and tourism growth, environmental degradation, unregulated housing development, and neglect. This can result to plant diversity degradation and even extinction. Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) can significantly contribute to the decision-making and management of cultural heritage sites such as the IRT. This study used digitized thematic maps and satellite images from different time periods to analyze land use changes in the IRT. This analysis can potentially contribute to informed decision-making by national and local government officials and planners toward IRT plant diversity protection and management. This study recommends a comprehensive plan for the heritage towns that will take into consideration the conservation and preservation of the bio-cultural landscape of Ifugao in combination with sustainable tourism development.