Human Nature Interaction in Ifugao Satoyama Landscape; UNESCO Inscribed Heritage Site and GIAHS

Abstract

The photography of satoyama landscape was made to document and appropriately label the different heritage sites & GIAHS in Ifugao to include the various human interactions with regards to their series of activities in the rice terraces. Descriptive analyses of the photographs were presented in narrative form in a simple approach that can be understood and be appreciated by every audience.

Satoyama landscapes found in Ifugao were built and developed through prolonged interaction between humans and their surrounding ecosystems , as one of grounds that Ifugao is in the UNESCO Heritage Sites (In 1996, the Ifugao Rice Terraces was declared a World Heritage site by the UNESCO) and the only Globally Important  Agricultural Heritage Site in the Philippines (GIAHS)  and  one of the few first listed GIAHS in the world . GIAHS are defined as “ Remarkable land use systems and landscapes which are rich in globally significant biological diversity evolving from the co-adaptation of a community with its environment and its needs and aspirations for sustainable development” (FAO 2002).

The researcher used the photos as resources of analysis, defined and labeled the landscapes and human interactions in the heritage sites. The five Ifugao world heritage clusters (Hungduan, Batad, Bangaan, Nagacadan, and Mayoyao,) were considered in this study.