Banaue rice terraces
The Banaue rice terraces are a major attraction in the Philippines .
They are located in a mountainous landscape about 1500 meters above sea level and cover almost 10 km² of the mountain slopes. About two thousand years ago, the Austronesian people of this area began building rice fields . To this day, cultivation continues on slopes of up to 70 degrees. There are fields that are only two meters wide. The Bontoc, other residents of the region, continued the construction by fortifying the earth with stone walls. The terraces are considered to be the oldest structure in the entire Philippines.
To this day, rice and vegetables are grown by locals on the terraces, although more and more younger Ifugao see agriculture as unattractive and are opting for the more lucrative tourism industry that has developed through the rice terraces. This leads to a gradual erosion of the characteristic stages, which require regular cultivation and care. The giant worm ("Olang" in Ifugao) of the genus Pheretima or Polypheretima elongata also contributes to the erosion, as do rats of the genus Chrotomis mindorensis and snails.
The rice terraces are along with four other plants since 1995 on UNESCO - World Heritage Site , and were in the same year by the American Society of Civil Engineers in the Landmarks List of International Historic Civil Engineering added.
Web links
- Philippine Destinations: Banaue Rice Terraces
- The brittle stairs to heaven - The rice terraces of Banaue
Individual evidence
- ^ The brittle Steps to the Sky - T. Retrieved November 10, 2018 .
Coordinates: 16 ° 56 ′ 5 ″ N , 121 ° 8 ′ 5 ″ E