Conserving the Ifugao Rice Terraces World Heritage Site: Financing cultural landscapes in a less-developed country through an ecosystem services framework

Less-developed countries are restricted in effectively funding the conservation of their cultural landscape heritage sites. Other sources of funds are needed to complement government spending. One possibility is finding ways to use the benefits that cultural landscapes provide. The ecosystem services framework, which was originally used by nature conservationists, could be a useful analytical concept. In this approach, benefits from environments are divided into different types of ecosystem services. By integrating the different kinds of benefits in one framework, new and old possibilities can be analysed. As a case study, the Ifugao Rice Terraces World Heritage site will be analysed. Besides the agricultural products provided by the IRT, the Ifugao agricultural system also has other benefits. However, more and more terraces are abandoned and deteriorating. This is attributed to the insufficient income of the local Ifugao farmers. The yield of their fields has decreased due to the...Show moreLess-developed countries are restricted in effectively funding the conservation of their cultural landscape heritage sites. Other sources of funds are needed to complement government spending. One possibility is finding ways to use the benefits that cultural landscapes provide. The ecosystem services framework, which was originally used by nature conservationists, could be a useful analytical concept. In this approach, benefits from environments are divided into different types of ecosystem services. By integrating the different kinds of benefits in one framework, new and old possibilities can be analysed. As a case study, the Ifugao Rice Terraces World Heritage site will be analysed. Besides the agricultural products provided by the IRT, the Ifugao agricultural system also has other benefits. However, more and more terraces are abandoned and deteriorating. This is attributed to the insufficient income of the local Ifugao farmers. The yield of their fields has decreased due to the lack of maintenance of their terraces and irrigation systems, which they are not able to fund themselves. At the same time, their changing socio-economic needs require a higher income as well. As a result, many Ifugao migrate to other regions for higher wages. To increase the income of the Ifugao, cultural and regulating ecosystem services become additional sources of income. Cultural services are already being exploited by tourism, but its earning potential has not yet been reached. Tourism is highly concentrated in one rice terrace cluster, so tourism could be expanded to the other clusters. In addition, regional tourist taxation could be implemented. To exploit regulating ecosystems, a Payment for Ecosystem Services scheme has to be created. This can be done on a global scale through carbon sequestration, or on a regional or local scale through hydrological services. However, relying on these sources of income comes with its own set of problems. Despite this, the financing potential of the ecosystem services too substantial to ignore and I think they may contribute significantly to the conservation of cultural landscape heritage sites.Show less

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Conserving the Ifugao Rice Terraces World Heritage Site: Financing cultural landscapes in a less-developed country through an ecosystem services framework