This EEPSEA study from the Philippines shows that
tourism revenue could finance a significant part of the
restoration and preservation work that is needed to
save one of the country’s most important cultural
treasures. The study focuses on the key challenges that
are facing the Ifugao Rice Terraces. The Ifugao Rice
Terraces in the Philippines have been designated a
UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995. These
terraces have been deteriorating steadily in recent
years and they have been the subject of a number of
under-funded and delayed ‘action plans’ that have
failed to halt their decline. The challenges facing the
terraces include a declining water and labour supply.
The study is the work of a research team led by Dr.
Margaret Calderon from the University of the
Philippines Los Banos. It finds that capturing tourists’
willingness-to-pay for the conservation of the rice
terraces could generate revenues of P 6.65 million or
more a year. The study also finds that the water supply
problems in the terraces would be reduced if
deforestation was tackled and irrigation systems and
damaged terrace walls were repaired. The study
recommends that a labor subsidy payment should be
introduced for Ifugao farmers. This would help them
to continue to farm the terraces, would go some way to
solving labour supply problems and would also help
finance costly maintenance and terrace repair work.