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This study examines the intersection of archaeological data and community narratives in interpreting the Ifugao Rice Terraces in the Philippines, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Long regarded as 2000-year-old symbols of an uncolonized cultural past, recent research challenges this view, suggesting a 16th-century origin coinciding with Spanish contact. The longstanding characterization of the Ifugao Rice Terraces as 2000-year-old monuments cemented a perception of Ifugao culture as static and unchanging, overshadowing the dynamic cultural practices that have persisted and evolved over the centuries. It is crucial to recognize that these terraces are not frozen in time but are active representations of Ifugao’s living culture, which has continually adapted to social, environmental, and historical changes while maintaining its distinct identity. This paradigm shift, supported by radiocarbon dating and ethnohistorical analysis, aligns more closely with local oral histories and portrays the Ifugao not as passive inheritors of tradition but as active participants in their history. We argue for the integration of scientific data with community stories, presenting a holistic understanding of the terraces as dynamic elements of Ifugao resilience and identity. The findings advocate a move away from romanticized historical interpretations toward a narrative that respects the complexity and adaptability of Indigenous cultural landscapes.

Rice terraces are a time-honored agricultural feature that overcomes rough terrain and hostile growing conditions. In addition to playing an essential role in agricultural production and land conservation, rice terraces have been recognized as living cultural landscapes, important agricultural heritage, and popular agritourism destinations for their aesthetic, sociocultural, and environmental values. However, there is a lack of understanding of this emerging niche market, especially from outsider perspectives. To fill the gap, this study analyzes Google Maps reviews of seventy representative rice terraces in Japan based on a mixed-method content analysis, aiming to identify visitors' overall experiences, seasonal perceptions, and the causes of negative experiences. The results indicate that the overall experience of rice terraces in Japan includes seven themes: agricultural landscapes, times and seasons, visual perception, accessibility and infrastructure, sense of place, Genfukei of Japan, and food. Visitors' perceptions toward the four seasons of the rice terraces have distinctive characteristics and result in different satisfaction levels. The main reasons for negative experiences are farmland abandonment, lack of character, poor accessibility, and bad timing. Leveraging the power of netnography, the study sheds light on the sustainable development of agricultural heritage tourism through the introduction of rice terrace conservation initiatives in Japan and the exploration of rice terrace experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Honghe Hani Rice Terraces of Yunnan Province have become a national emblem for China and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but some are beginning to crumble. This research attempts to address why this is happening and what can be done about it. Previous work has failed to adequately address the possible shortcomings of recently introduced seed and water management technologies, their particular effect on rice terraces and the people who depend upon them. In an effort to better understand the issue, field observation was triangulated with in-depth interviews with local people, and the examination of scientific literature. To do this, the authors spent time in China with a translator in a key village known to be first in the area to truly succeed in carving the rice terraces and in making the mountain slope irrigation system required actually working. Results validated by experts in each field indicate that while the new seed and technologies do save water and improve lives, paired with migration, they may also be threatening the long-term viability of rice terracing in the region. The authors conclude that an integrated approach is needed and put forward a strategic blueprint to reinforce ecological, social and economic longevity. They also call for more research into the applicability of these resilience measures in other hybrid rice terracing regions, such as in the Philippines and Vietnam.

This study examines the intersection of archaeological data and community narratives in interpreting the Ifugao Rice Terraces in the Philippines, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Long regarded as 2000-year-old symbols of an uncolonized cultural past, recent research challenges this view, suggesting a 16th-century origin coinciding with Spanish contact. The longstanding characterization of the Ifugao Rice Terraces as 2000-year-old monuments cemented a perception of Ifugao culture as static and unchanging, overshadowing the dynamic cultural practices that have persisted and evolved over the centuries. It is crucial to recognize that these terraces are not frozen in time but are active representations of Ifugao’s living culture, which has continually adapted to social, environmental, and historical changes while maintaining its distinct identity. This paradigm shift, supported by radiocarbon dating and ethnohistorical analysis, aligns more closely with local oral histories and portrays the Ifugao not as passive inheritors of tradition but as active participants in their history. We argue for the integration of scientific data with community stories, presenting a holistic understanding of the terraces as dynamic elements of Ifugao resilience and identity. The findings advocate a move away from romanticized historical interpretations toward a narrative that respects the complexity and adaptability of Indigenous cultural landscapes.

Rice terraces are a time-honored agricultural feature that overcomes rough terrain and hostile growing conditions. In addition to playing an essential role in agricultural production and land conservation, rice terraces have been recognized as living cultural landscapes, important agricultural heritage, and popular agritourism destinations for their aesthetic, sociocultural, and environmental values. However, there is a lack of understanding of this emerging niche market, especially from outsider perspectives. To fill the gap, this study analyzes Google Maps reviews of seventy representative rice terraces in Japan based on a mixed-method content analysis, aiming to identify visitors’ overall experiences, seasonal perceptions, and the causes of negative experiences. The results indicate that the overall experience of rice terraces in Japan includes seven themes: agricultural landscapes, times and seasons, visual perception, accessibility and infrastructure, sense of place, Genfukei of Japan, and food. Visitors’ perceptions toward the four seasons of the rice terraces have distinctive characteristics and result in different satisfaction levels. The main reasons for negative experiences are farmland abandonment, lack of character, poor accessibility, and bad timing. Leveraging the power of netnography, the study sheds light on the sustainable development of agricultural heritage tourism through the introduction of rice terrace conservation initiatives in Japan and the exploration of rice terrace experience.

Mountain rice terrace agriculture is a critical land use practice in southern China. Analyzing the vertical structure of rice terraces systems and the coupled evolution of their human-land relationship from a mountainous stereoscopic perspective is significant to regional resource use and sustainable agricultural development. This study took the Xijiang Township and Jiabang Township in the mountainous area of Southwest China as the research object, based on the unique rice farming environment in the mountainous region, to divide the typical types of the four-element isomorphic (FEI) of the regional forest, village, river, and rice terraces from the perspective of vertical differentiation. The spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of rice terraces based on the view of the social-ecological system were explored by using the land use data of Jiabang Township from 1962 (1977 in Xijiang Township) to 2020, and methods such as mathematical statistics, sample transect analysis. The ecological risk model was also employed to analyze the spatiotemporal variation characteristics and landscape stability of ecological risk in mountain rice terraces systems. The study showed that: (1) The rice terraces showed the “forest-terraces-village-river” (F-T-V-R), “forest-village-terraces-river” (F-V-T-R), and “forest-terraces-village-terraces-river” (F-T-V-T-R), and the rice terraces in each differentiation type experienced a continuous evolutionary feature of “development-stabilization-local shrinkage and shifted.” (2) The mixed production trend of “main rice and the auxiliary dry land” in the rice terraces landscape was gradually highlighted, and the degree of landscape abandonment and fragmentation was deepened, and the “F-T-V-T-R” structure had the highest landscape stability in long-term development. (3) The ecological risks of each landscape type showed the characteristics of “increase-stabilization-decrease” in different time series evolution. (4) Although the “F-T-V-T-R” landscape types in the two areas were at a high-risk level in the long term, the long-term changes are less fluctuating, and the landscape security stability is the highest. The research results comprehensively reflected the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of the landscape spatial pattern of rice terraces, and revealed the reflection of the FEI vertical differentiation structure on the regional social ecosystem and human-land relationship, which can help us to promote the optimal utilization of traditional rice terraces resources in the mountains and promote the sustainable development of rice agriculture.

There has been an increasing concern over the threats posed by climate change to the conservation of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). However, the Ifugao Rice Terraces (IRT) have received limited attention with respect to climate change, considering it is one of the provinces in the Philippines highly at risk to temperature change, projected rainfall change, and combined climate and weather-related risks. It is therefore necessary to assess how the community perceives climate change and how they can cope up with these impacts. This study aimed to explore farmers' perceptions, adaptation strategies, and barriers to climate change in the community of Batad Rice Terraces. A total of 114 out of 197 households, three focused group discussions, and five interviews with key stakeholders, including government officials and community leaders, were conducted in 2017 and 2018. The result showed that farmers have already observed the negative impacts of changing weather patterns, particularly in their agricultural production. The most common impacts observed were low rice yield, drought, and drying of rice plants due to unpredictable rainfall patterns and temperature increase. The top three most important adaptation strategies in the face of climate variability are all water-related. This shows that strong local government support is recommended to repair and maintain irrigation canals within the terraces. The salient climate change barriers identified by the farmers were access to climate information, inadequate farm labor, and lack of access to agricultural extension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural biodiversity has a high importance in social-cultural, economic, and environmental aspects, and can help in adapting to and withstanding climate change. Conserving the GIAHS sites and the important components within them can help conserve the agricultural biodiversity and traditional agricultural culture of the whole country. This study considered Ifugao Rice Terraces, Dong's Rice-Fish-Duck System, and Hani Rice Terraces System as three examples which show that traditional culture can be used to protect agricultural biodiversity, while as a carrier of traditional culture, agricultural biodiversity also conveys and protects the traditional culture of the nation. According to the analyses, through several years of efforts, the status of agricultural biodiversity and traditional culture in them has improved. Then, to further promote agricultural biodiversity conservation and traditional culture protection, several suggestions are made, such as establishing community seed banks; documenting and preserving traditional farming methods, techniques, and tools and developing participatory activities which encourage more farmers to participate in the protection work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of soil bacterial community structure and functional groups in rice terraces can provide a theoretical basis for the sustainable management of terraces. Nineteen soil samples were collected at different altitudes in Longji rice terraces. Bacterial community structure was analyzed using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing, and its functional group was predicted using FAPROTAX functional prediction software. The results showed that the dominant phyla were Proteobacteria and Chloroflexi with 37.40%~63.28% and 11.30%~ 40.78% abundance, respectively. The dominant genera were Sphingomonas and Rhodanobacter with 7.13%~20.87% and 2.34%~21.53% abundance, respectively. Clustering heatmap of dominance operational taxonomic units（OTUs）showed that the environmental factors significantly related to bacterial abundance were pH, carbon–nitrogen ratio（C/N）, alkali-hydrolyzed nitrogen（AN）, and altitude. A total of 51 functional groups were predicted based on all the OTUs. Denitrification, sulfur respiration, and hydrocarbon degradation functional groups were significantly related to pH, C/N, AN, and altitude. The above results indicated that soil pH, C/N, AN, and altitude significantly affected soil bacterial community structure and functional groups in Longji rice terraces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates transformations and trends in a traditional agricultural system in Kiangan, Philippines as a consequence of evolving social-ecological scenarios. For this study, Modified Sustainable Livelihood Framework (MSLF) and Drivers-Pressures-State-Impacts-Responses (DPSIR) framework identified major driving forces in Kiangan social-ecological system (SES) and elucidated relationships and interactions between them. This study however unveiled the highly disturbed state of Kiangan SES and erosion of Ifugao culture and belief systems owing to the ingress of modernization, mind-set change among locals and weak institutional support. In particular, the polytheism to Christianity shift was a causative factor leading to abandonment of traditional rice varieties and farming rituals as well as the transformation of Kiangan upland landscape and its associated biophysical structures. Furthermore, productivity-driven approach to food production also resulted in wide scale agro-biodiversity losses, environmental degradation and cultural erosion. It was nonetheless observed that the Kiangan SES has, as of this time, not yet shifted to an alternative state and is still able to conserve its main features despite pressures to it. Interventions are therefore warranted to redirect the trajectory of Kiangan SES, steer it toward sustainable agricultural development and consequently into its preservation on behalf of the people that depend on it for food and livelihood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The terraced rice fields of Bali and the northern Philippines are not just spectacular agricultural production sites located in hilly or mountainous areas. Their development by the Hindu Balinese and the non-Christianized Ifugao includes a strong religious dimension as well as a complex social organization around the management of water resources. The recent rise of tourism, coupled with the UNESCO world heritage recognition of these agricultural areas, leads today to several challenges that may jeopardize the balance of these societies: tourism overcrowding, loss of authenticity, abandonment of farming by young people. Are these sophisticated local farming systems sustainable in the context of globalization? Which arrangements can insure their survival?

The article presents the features of terrace agriculture of Hani and Yi indigenous minorities, living in the Yunnan province in the South-West China, just a step away from the Laos and Vietnam boundaries. The cultural landscape of the Hani rice terraces, included into the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013 (Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces), expresses the conservation of the minorities’ course of life during the last 1 300 years. The geological framework, climate patterns and conform type of vegetation predefine the specific character of natural conditions necessary for terrace agriculture and red rice growth – the most important crop within the region. At that, the landscape picture which fully reflects the season fluctuations of regional subtropical climate, also facilitates to aesthetic and romantic perception forming, symbolizing man-made environment integral and interlaced into natural landscape. The special focus is made on the description of terraced slopes unique morphology and ancient land cultivation technologies for the essential regional culture – red rice. Preservation of centuries-old traditions of efficient agriculture makes it possible to achieve integration of cultural and natural landscapes, that seamlessly comprises the ethnic minorities’ life, as well as to prevent development of erosion and landslide slope processes. The elements of the traditional Hani people way of life, including ritual customs associated with terrace agriculture, are particularly described.

This study aimed to investigate the adoption of Highland Terrace Paddy Cultivation Technology (HTPCT) in Northern Thailand. HTPCT was promoted by the Rice Department in 2003 in four provinces of Northern Thailand under the Royal Development Project. Previous studies showed increased yields using HTPCT while cost of converting sloping lands into terrace paddy can be recouped in a few years. However, despite the promotion of the technology, adoption had not been widespread. To understand the limitations in the adoption process, quantitative and qualitative research was conducted in 5 villages of Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son provinces located in Doi Ompai Mountain. Results show that overall the respondents had high level of adoption but for two practices, namely, soil fertilizer management and sequential cropping system and livestock production, the respondents had moderate level of adoption. Further, the two production practices were only partially practiced by the farmers. This means that even if the adopters converted their upland rice areas to terrace paddy, they still used some traditional technologies and did not follow all recommended HTPCT practices. The common problems mentioned by the respondents in practicing HTPCT were water and labor shortage, difficulty of land preparation, lack of bio-pesticides and green manure seeds, familiarity with traditional cultivation and their superstition which worked against widespread adoption. Thus, a model in promoting HTPCT in Northern Thailand is proposed. The model takes into consideration the necessary policies, roles of various stakeholders and joint learning among farmers, extension workers and researchers in each step of HTPCT promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ifugao province of the Philippines has a traditional muyong forest system that supplies water and prevents soil erosion of the world-famous Ifugao rice terraces. The socio-political structure of Ifugao has been the key to the maintenance and communal use of land, as well as the muyong forest, without causing excessive damage to the land. Recently, the Ifugao is facing various challenges viz. deforestation, slash-and-burn, introduction of commercial rice, and climate change. The aim of the study is to qualitatively assess the forest management practices in the muyong forest and the way forward to implement the United Nations—Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) mechanism. Community forestry can be an interesting option to reduce CO2 emissions from deforestation in Ifugao. This study qualitatively explores the societal problems in the area using focus group discussion (FGD) and key informant interviews (KII). The results show that the terracing lifestyle is at risk, due to mounting economic pressures from the domestic economy. Societal changes are altering the perceptions of the youth in terms of muyong sustainable management. They are threatening the sustainability of the terraces in the long-term because of outward migration and less value given to traditional practices. Furthermore, integration of commercial rice is changing the traditional agricultural system and placing less focus on forest maintenance. This study also discusses potential challenges and opportunities of REDD+ intervention and the role of REDD+ to foster sustainable muyong forest management as well as to find new innovative ways to maintain the Ifugao traditional system while coping with the modernization of the Ifugao economy.

• A framework for socio-ecological analysis of rice terrace systems is constructed. • Assessed the degree of ecological risk in the rice landscape. • Three specific "four-element isomorphism" rice terraces ecosystems have been formed. • The "forest-terraces-village-terraces-river" landscape structure is the most stable. • High sustainability of agricultural terraces in a virtuous social-ecological system. Mountain rice terrace agriculture is a critical land use practice in southern China. Analyzing the vertical structure of rice terraces systems and the coupled evolution of their human-land relationship from a mountainous stereoscopic perspective is significant to regional resource use and sustainable agricultural development. This study took the Xijiang Township and Jiabang Township in the mountainous area of Southwest China as the research object, based on the unique rice farming environment in the mountainous region, to divide the typical types of the four-element isomorphic (FEI) of the regional forest, village, river, and rice terraces from the perspective of vertical differentiation. The spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of rice terraces based on the view of the social-ecological system were explored by using the land use data of Jiabang Township from 1962 (1977 in Xijiang Township) to 2020, and methods such as mathematical statistics, sample transect analysis. The ecological risk model was also employed to analyze the spatiotemporal variation characteristics and landscape stability of ecological risk in mountain rice terraces systems. The study showed that: (1) The rice terraces showed the "forest-terraces-village-river" (F-T-V-R), "forest-village-terraces-river" (F-V-T-R), and "forest-terraces-village-terraces-river" (F-T-V-T-R), and the rice terraces in each differentiation type experienced a continuous evolutionary feature of "development-stabilization-local shrinkage and shifted." (2) The mixed production trend of "main rice and the auxiliary dry land" in the rice terraces landscape was gradually highlighted, and the degree of landscape abandonment and fragmentation was deepened, and the "F-T-V-T-R" structure had the highest landscape stability in long-term development. (3) The ecological risks of each landscape type showed the characteristics of "increase-stabilization-decrease" in different time series evolution. (4) Although the "F-T-V-T-R" landscape types in the two areas were at a high-risk level in the long term, the long-term changes are less fluctuating, and the landscape security stability is the highest. The research results comprehensively reflected the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of the landscape spatial pattern of rice terraces, and revealed the reflection of the FEI vertical differentiation structure on the regional social ecosystem and human-land relationship, which can help us to promote the optimal utilization of traditional rice terraces resources in the mountains and promote the sustainable development of rice agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, set in the mountainous slopes that flow to the valleys of the Hong River in the southern Yunnan Province, is a cultural product of rice farming. The rice terraces were created by a particular ethnic group that utilised the water and vegetation resources of their unique geography and climate. Today, after hundreds of years of cumulative effort, the terraces constitute a breathtaking cultural landscape. The rice production technology interwoven with the local people’s cultural spirituality and governance is a unique way of living that has been developing over a thousand years, creating and maintaining a spectacular landscape. The Hani Rice Terraces in the Honghe region of China’s Yunnan province was inscribed as a cultural landscape on the World Heritage List in 2013 for bearing a unique testimony to a cultural tradition and as an outstanding example of traditional human land-use. This study describes the unique property with its spatial structure of forest water and village terrace systems and discusses the physical factors that sustain this landscape. Indivisible from the landscape is the culture of the local Hani people, their land-use and management, along with their traditional practices and spiritual values that sustain the landscape. In recent years, this extraordinary, expansive region has become a popular destination for photographers, anthropologists, folklorists, ethnologists and scholars studying traditional villages. The study also raises issues on how the landscape can be maintained in contemporary times with tourism and modern living aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional rural landscapes emerged from the long term interaction of the natural and anthropogenic environment. These landscapes are now threatened by drastic social-ecological changes. Recent international trends on sustaining cultural landscapes place great emphasis on understanding of multiple values, presented in the landscape, by considering various stakeholder perspectives. It is now recognized that strong community engagement with the landscape should be translated into conservation and management practices. This paper aims to examine the recent conservation activities around endangered traditional rural landscapes in Korea through a case study of Gacheon village. In this village, since 2000, a series of central administrative measures have been implemented to revive the local community, and to conserve its distinctive landscape. By analyzing challenges to the site, by discussing conservation experience and lessons, and by recommending future strategies for sustaining its cultural landscapes, this paper is expected to provide a basis for future policy-making for safeguarding traditional rural landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan's rice terrace landscapes are not only used for food production but also appreciated as a place of high biocultural value. This paper pursues the question as to how far esthetic and spiritual values influence the motivation to participate in collective agricultural actions aiming at the conservation of traditional land use systems, the respective cultural (= traditional rural) landscapes and their biocultural diversity. Our results show that in the Ownership System of Ōyamasenmaida (Chiba Prefecture, Japan) landscape beauty is the main motivator for the mainly urban volunteers (the ‘tenants’) to participate in activities of the local Preservation Association, as well as for visitors who merely come to enjoy the scenery of the rice terraces. The active tenants, however, differ from the ‘passive’ visitors in their ecological interest and emotional attachment to the area. Interestingly, there is also a difference regarding the belief in nature spirits. A higher percentage of people who can imagine that such spirits are always present have been found among the tenants than among the visitors. Even more significant in this respect was the difference between female tenants and female visitors. To what extent spirituality is the cause for or an effect of involvement in nature conservation activities cannot be concluded from this survey. Future studies should therefore take a closer look at the connection between spirituality/religiosity and engagement in nature conservation activities. In Western countries (mainly in Central Europe or North America), nature conservation works on a more ‘scientific’ level, mobilizing engagement through scientific evidence on, for example, losses of species or biodiversity. Addressing the motivations of the volunteers on an emotional, esthetic or social level could be a promising way forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Montane areas of Cordillera, the Philippines, the IP (indigenous people) have cultivated native rice for generations on their rice terraces, which were designated a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Cultural Heritage site in 1995 and a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) World Agricultural Heritage site, Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) in 2011. This heirloom rice was registered as a collective trademark in 2018 and will be registered as a sui generis geographical indication (GI) in the coming years. Based on the author's interviews with the stakeholders in heirloom rice production conducted in the Philippines in 2019, this article aims to analyze whether GI and patrimonization contribute to the sustainability of the IP communities in Cordillera. This paper demonstrates that GI and patrimonization exhibit both potential and contradictions in ecological, socio-cultural, and economic dimensions of sustainability in the communities, and the compatibility of these dimensions is challenged. The paper concludes that public policies need to pay particular attention to accompanying IP communities when GI and patrimonization are designed to protect them from over-development of the designated area and over-commodification of their certified agri-food products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1995 and 2015, I conducted fieldwork in a rice-growing village in southwest China as an artist-researcher. In this text, I examine the profound changes taking place in rural border areas inhabited by non-Han minorities, and particularly those of the Hani in the Yunnan Red River Valley. What future is there for the Hani ancestral model of irrigated rice terraces, and what are the stakes? My work combines a sensitive approach through diverse artistic representations of landscapes – from classical Chinese art to the works of contemporary artists, including mine – and examines landscape planning and patrimonial policies. The conservation stakes are not only environmental – biodiversity, sustainable development – but also identity-based through vernacular and minority cultures. I will point out the limits of this landscape planning and outline its future.