The Batad Kadangyan Ethnic Lodges Project: community-based indigenous tourism in a Unesco World Heritage rice terrace cultural landscape

摘要

The UNESCO World Heritage Batad Rice Terrace Cluster Cultural Landscape is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Philippines. Yet, indigenous Ifugaos who tend these paddies complain that they have not been able to share in the economic benefits that tourism brings. The Batad Kadangyan Ethnic Lodges Project aims to address this issue by enabling these farmers and their families to engage tourists through capitalizing on the tangible and intangible heritage that they possess. The indigenous Ifugao house (baluy) is an integral part of the endangered UNESCO World Heritage Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras cultural landscape, and an outstanding jewel of Filipino architectural patrimony. However, conservation programs have mostly neglected these grass-roofed dwellings, and have focused more on the rice terraces only or on other aspects of the rice culture. As a result, many baluys have fallen into disrepair because the subsistence farmers who own them lack the resources to maintain these huts. This paper relates the story of an ongoing community-based project s in the small village of Batad, in the municipality of Banaue, province of Ifugao. Using traditional carpentry techniques and following local house building customs, three dilapidated baluys were initially restored with the cooperation of the familyowners. The renovated houses were then utilized as lodging and managed by the same families as part of an eco-cultural tour of the village. With additional funding from the Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts given in 2010, more houses were repaired. Some beneficiary families were subsequently able to recoup the project’s restoration expenditures in less than a year. Seeing the value and feasibility of this project, the Philippine government promulgated another major house restoration initiative in 2014. Difficulties facing the project include the unavailability of building materials, monitoring issues, and lack of marketing / promotion. Amidst these challenges, The Batad Kadangyan Ethnic Lodges Project tries to seek the right balance of tourism, cultural enrichment and community empowerment in the adaptiveudreuse of these traditional houses.