Government to declare national agricultural heritage sites by 2028

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is now empowered to declare at least 10 national agricultural heritage sites by 2028 after four government agencies joined hands to recognize these areas.

Earlier this month, the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), and National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) signed a joint memorandum circular (JMC) recognizing and confirming Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (NIAHS).

NIAHS is a concept adapted from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (FAO) Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) programme, which seeks to protect agricultural heritage systems — including its associated landscapes, biodiversity and knowledge systems — using a dynamic conservation approach.

Currently, the only declared GIAHS site in the country is the Ifugao Rice Terraces.

Under the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP), the country committed to declare at least 10 NIAHS by 2028.

The JMC provides the means to recognize these systems and covers the incentives and benefits that will be provided to communities and municipalities to support their initiatives to protect and conserve their NIAHS.

The said JMC was crafted through the project titled, Dynamic conservation and sustainable use of agro-biodiversity in traditional agro-ecosystems of the Philippines also known as the Agrobiodiversity Project, which was funded by Global Environment Facility grant and collaboratively implemented by FAO and the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR).

“This important measure grants the government both the authority to make early identification of these [agricultural heritage] systems and the means to act quickly and thoroughly to save them from extinction,” DA assistant secretary for Regulations Paz Benavidez II said.

BAR officer-in-charge director Joell Lales said the recognition and confirmation of NIAHS are crucial for mitigation and adaptation measures to combat climate change.

“The NIAHS is all about adaptation to reduce climate risk while providing viable options and solutions for residing communities to sustain their livelihood and improving their indigenous knowledge practices,” he said.

FAO representative in the Philippines Lionel Dabbadie, meanwhile, underscored the need to recognize both the natural and man-made threats that impact agrobiodiversity and the importance of dynamic conservation in ensuring sustained support to the livelihood of agricultural heritage systems’ caretakers toward preventing threats such as food insecurity and poverty.

Local communities through their local government units need to document, recognize, and protect their locally important agricultural heritage systems (LIAHS) in local plans before these can be recognized at the national level.