2 World Heritage Rice Terraces in South East Asia
- Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, Philippines
- Cultural Landscape of Bali province : the Subak System as a Manifestation of the Tri Hita Karana Philosophy, Indonesia
Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras
The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, a complex of rice terraces on the island of Luzon, are one of the few monuments in the Philippines that show no evidence of having been influenced by colonial cultures.
The property was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995, the first-ever property to be included in the cultural landscape category of the World Heritage List.
This inscription has five terraces located in different cities, but all are in Ifugao province: the Batad Rice Terraces and Bangaan Rice Terraces in Banaue city. Mayoyao Rice Terraces in Mayoyao city. Hungduan Rice Terraces in Hungduan city and Nagacadan Rice Terraces in Kiangan city.
The maintenance of the living rice terraces reflects a primarily cooperative approach of the whole community which is based on detailed knowledge of the rich diversity of biological resources existing in the Ifugao agro-ecosystem, a finely tuned annual system respecting lunar cycles, zoning and planning, extensive soil conservation, and mastery of a complex pest control regime, based on the processing of a variety of herbs, accompanied by religious rituals. However, the knowledge and practices are transferred orally from generation to generation, without written records.
The Ifugao Rice Terraces have also been inscribed in the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2001 as the dangers of deforestation and climate change threatens to destroy the terraces.
Another contributing factor is globalization where the younger generations of the Ifugaos have recently had the opportunity to gain access to media and education, most of the younger Ifugaos have opted to come to the capital for work instead of the traditional farming tradition.
Cultural Landscape of Bali province
Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the Subak System as a Manifestation of the Tri Hita Karana Philosophy, consists of Subak Landscape of Pakerisan Watershed, Subak Landscape of Catur Angga Baturkaru, Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur, Lake Batur, and Royal Temple of Taman Ayun.
Subak is the water management system for the paddy fields on Bali island. It was developed in the 9th century. The system consists of five rice terraces, and their water temples that cover 19,500 ha. The temples are the focus of a cooperative water management system of canals and weirs, known as, subak.
The ‘subak’ reflects the philosophical concept of ‘Tri Hita Karana’, which brings together the realms of the spirit, the human world and nature. This philosophy was born of the cultural exchange between Bali and India over the past 2,000 years and has shaped the landscape of Bali. The subak system was enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012.
Among the many fields that stretch almost all across the island, the Jatiluwih Rice Terraces in the heart of Tabanan Regency, is the best example of Bali’s outstanding picturesque rice fields and represent the Subak system as Bali’s Cultural Landscape.
The Jatiluwih rice terraces, lie at an altitude of 700 meters, comprise over 600 hectares of rice fields that follow the flowing topography of the Batukaru mountain range. In Balinese, Jatiluwih can be literally translated to Jati (really) and Luwih (beautiful). It takes 2- hour drive from Kuta and 1.5 hours from Ubud.
A full-day tour usually include Jatiluwih as the main attraction alongside other prominent highlights of Batukaru Temple, Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest, together and picturesque Tanah Lot sea temple.
