Philippines: 2000 years of Rice harvest
Batad village in Ifugao Province lies some 250 kilometres north of Manila, in a secluded valley that can only be reached by foot after a five kilometre treck, with tough climbs over a rugged mountain pass. It is home to the spectacular 2000 year-old amphitheatre rice terraces, which have been listed as a UNESCO world Heritage site since 1995. They are testament to the skills, ingenuity and individuality of the Ifugao people, famed among Filipinos for their strong sense of identity and independence.
The rice harvest takes place from July to August but is no longer sufficient to provide for the local area, with as much as 65% of the rice need being met by imports. Although isolation has left traditional ways of life more or less in tact, large portions of the terraces are falling into disrepair as more of the young head for cities chasing education and opportunity. By 2001 some 30% of the terraces in the Cordillera Mountains had been abandoned according to UNESCO, who placed them on the List of World Heritage in Danger.