KOREA FOUNDATION

ASEAN Heritage​

The Cordilleras Rice Terraces: A Scenic Masterpiece that Enhances Nature with Human Wisdom​​

​Edited by Korean National Commission for UNESCO

Rice is a staple food in the Philippines. It’s popular not only because it can be grown more efficiently than other grains (with a higher productivity per unit area) but also because it’s nutrient-rich and delicious. Ifugao, a region of the Philippines in the northern island of Luzon, is home to a breathtaking site that shows just how much Filipinos love rice: the Ifugao Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras. 

   These terraces stretch seemingly endlessly over steep mountain slopes that would ordinarily be considered unfit for farming. The first terraces to be built on the Cordillera Mountains were created approximately 2,000 years ago. The Ifugao people, who originally farmed on flat land and fished in rivers, moved away from the sweltering lowlands to settle deep inside the mountains of Cordillera, a region with cool weather and relatively low temperatures, as well as enough clean water for everyone, flowing down from the mountaintops. The only thing missing was flat land for farming. Instead of giving up on agriculture, however, the Ifugao came up with an ingenious idea. 

   After setting down wide marker stones along the contours of the mountains, the Ifugao filled in the gaps in the slopes with small pebbles. Next, they hardened the soil with sturdy trees and constructed stone walls right next to the fields. They set aside a separate space above the fields for storing water and made the ridges between the fields strong by stacking several layers of clay. A passageway was made within the ridges for water to pass through, allowing fields that could not be reached with existing irrigation facilities to be supplied with water through a bamboo tube. The Ifugao people invented a system through which water could flow, without interruption, from a mountaintop to each successive terrace step, and could even control water flow so that each rice field was supplied with the same amount. The fact that such a complex and detailed irrigation system, capable of sending water to each and every field, was created without the benefit of modern technology attests to the creativity and skill of the Ifugao.

    The rice terraces developed over many generations and have grown tremendously in scale, to the point that the current distance between the highest and lowest fields is one kilometer. Of course, the terrace method has been used in countries around the world to water to fields located at high altitudes. But the Ifugao rice terraces are special because of the extremely steep slope on which the fields are located, as well as their altitude (from 700 to 1,500 meters above sea level), and their total area. Above all, it’s in recognition of the unique value derived from many generations of knowledge and experience that the Ifugao rice fields came to be registered as part of UNESCO’s World Heritage List. 

   Today, the residents of Cordillera still farm rice. In order to maintain the way of life created by their ancestors, they work together under a self-developed set of rules according to their annual farming plan. The rice fields, which are stacked so high that it looks like they might actually reach the sky, are not only aesthetically pleasing. They are also widely regarded, even thousands of years since they were invented, as a sustainable farming system that benefits people throughout the world. 

   The Ifugao rice fields are the world’s largest rice terraces and an extraordinary scenic landscape that was born from the harmonious interaction of humans and nature. For the Ifugao people, the rice fields are living proof of the way of life passed down from generation to generation.