Philippines: Conference on ecological engineering in rice landscapes held in Ifugao Province

The Land-use intensity and ecological engineering assessment tools for risks and opportunities in irrigated rice-based production systems (LEGATO) project held a 5-day conference, Ecological engineering for sustainable management in rice landscapes, last week in Banaue, Ifugao Province.

LEGATO aims to quantify ecosystem functions and services it generates in rice systems in Southeast Asia, particularly in Vietnam (Tien Giang Province, Sapa, and Red River Delta) and the Philippines (Banaue, Nueva Ecija, and Laguna).

Guided by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment framework, its researchers will look into provisioning, regulating, and cultural services in rice-based ecosystems.

Presented during the conference were preliminary field observations and reassessment of achievements made in the first 16 months of the project. Some of the topics discussed were: methodologies of various work packages, communication platforms to promote LEGATO, and potential collaborations with associate partners.

Participants visited Batad, Hingyon, Banga’an, Tam’an, and Pu’itan villages.

Sixty participants from German universities, Southeast Asian partners (MARD, VSU, CABI, CEPSTA, PhilRice, and IRRI), and associate partners (UPLB, Rice Department, Pensoft, and BIOSS) attended the event, which was held on 2-6 July at Banaue Hotel and Youth Hostel.