Local Partner: Pidlisan Tribe of Sagada
Background and objective:
Since 2015, the elders, who are now supported by young mothers, waged a campaign for the re-
cultivation of all rice fields and rehabilitation of the communal irrigation systems. They say their
rice lands symbolized the unity, ingenuity, culture and food sovereignty of their people which
should be passed on to the next generation.
The project proposed is to support community research in documenting the infrastructure and
knowledge development of the Pidlisan’s rice culture ; their initiatives to reclaim abandoned paddy fields and innovate on their cultural practices to increase the productivity of their rice land scape which is directly linked to the continued protection of their watershed.
Local partner information:
Pidlisan Tribe Organization was coined as the legal identity of the tribe in 1995 when the tribe negotiated with external groups to resolve conflicts on resources and territorial boundary. They broadened their objectives to include ; encourage, uphold , protect and sustain good cultural practices and traditions as well as unity of the tribe; maintain, preserve and protect territorial domains and ancestral resources as well as the environment of Pidlisan tribe.; preserve and teach good tribal values and principles to the younger generations and undertake sustainable community development based on self determination of the people.
