A worsening drought is exacting a terrible toll on the world-famous mountain rice terraces of the northern Philippines, local officials said Tuesday.
A state of calamity was this week declared for the Banaue area that is home to many of the ancient stone-walled paddies and one of the Southeast Asian nation’s most popular tourist destinations, the officials said.
The rice terraces, a United Nations World Heritage site and known locally as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, were built between 2,000 and 6,000 years ago using huge rocks for each step and a complex trickle-down irrigation system.
Banaue tourist information bureau officer Juliet Mateo said the rice paddies most frequented by tourists at Batad and Bangaan had dried up completely as much of the country suffered from an El Nino-induced drought.
Mateo said the rice harvest, which takes six months in the mountains compared with three months on the flats, was in danger of being ruined completely by the drought.
Since a state of calamity has been declared for Banaue on Monday, officials hope that this would allow the local authorities to look into emergency funds to aid farmers.
Lack of rain added to the continuous drying of the land. This was the worst dry spell since 1998, wherein El Nino also hovered the land. (PIA-Bohol)
