Conservationists are up in arms over what they called a “stunt” held in Ifugao, at the heritage site of Banaue rice terraces, where two world-renowned professional wakeskaters breezed through the paddies on a board.
Two heritage conservation experts expressed dismay over the event put together by energy drink maker Red Bull, which invited Brian Grubb of the US and Dominik Preisner of Germany to wakeskate at the northern attraction, which had been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.
“The world heritage property and the local residents should not be exploited,” said Augusto Villalon, president of the Heritage Society, in a report of Agence France-Presse.
Heritage conservation architect Joycelyn Mananghaya reiterated that the paddies were built by the Ifugaos so they could source their food. Doing the wakeskate stunt there “is grossly out of place.”
She cautioned the organizers that if wakeskating continues at the rice terraces, such an activity “remove[s] from it the values by which the site has been inscribed in the world heritage list.”
For their part, Red Bull said it sought all the clearances it needed before holding the event. They maintained the activity was meant to increase environmental awareness.
Photo: Daniel Deak Bardos/Sophia Langner
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