Assessing Agrarian Cultural Landscapes in the Philippines

1.1 Background of the Study What it says: The Philippines has many rice fields;

the Rice Terraces of the Cordilleras are a prime example of a cultural landscape recognized by UNESCO

(1995). UNESCO defines cultural landscapes as the combined works of nature and humans.

For a site to be recognized, it must meet at least one of the 10 UNESCO World

Heritage criteria. The Rice Terraces met three (community-based rice production, long history and

collective labor, sustainable land-use). However, this system favors only sites with

“Outstanding Universal Value”, which leaves out many local or small-scale sites that are culturally

important — like rural agricultural landscapes in Pampanga. Australia developed its own system (the