Inspecting seedlings in an open plant nursery seedbed.

Tribes in Banaue, Ifugao have a culture of traditional practices and laws to enhance and protect their forests and watersheds. However many of these practices have fallen into disuse in recent times, and because of deforestation and destruction of watershed areas, the region is now short of both drinking and irrigation water. This project seeks to revive traditional practices - both because they work, and because using such methods is more likely to interest and involve the local people, and thus be sustainable.

The project aims to enhance and protect five watershed areas, totalling 40 hectares, with the planting of locally found water generating plants (for example the Alimit tree). Cuttings of the plants have to be raised in a nursery because wild examples of the desired water-generating trees are rare. It is hoped that once the propagation technology for water generating areas has been learned, people with family or clan owned sources of water will raise their own planting materials, thus keeping the project cycle going and spreading its benefit.