Lose the farmers, lose the environment

Further to Luigi’s thoughtful article on how hard farming is becoming, and how the skills needed to farm effectively are being lost as young people abandon rural life for the city, news that a farming environment often considered the eighth wonder of the world is under threat. The Banaue Rice Terraces of Luzon in the Philippines are beyond words. But they are apparently being destroyed by giant earthworms and edible snails, among other pests. But honestly, if the people are introducing snails to supplement their diet, how sustainable can the terraces possibly be? Only human labour can sustain such artifice, and only human need can command and coordinate that much labour. The President of the Philippine Senate has called for a “comprehensive study”. But what is it likely to recommend? That maintaining the terraces be a government-funded job to keep a tourist attraction in a state that will attract tourists, and their cash? Or can the communities that have inherited the Banaue terraces somehow be shown ways in which they can benefit directly from the tourist cash?

Photo from Wayfaring Travel Guide (because Flickr doesn’t work too well here in China.)