Living and learning from the Land

Text rapport team Life College

Indigenous people have accumulated valuable traditional knowledge about nature and play a critical role in the sustainability of the ecosystem services through their sustainable practices. However, until today, this knowledge is often not recognized as a valuable tool towards environmental protection and resiliency. It is vital that along with the various anthropogenic pressures, natural disturbances, and the risks of climate change, the indigenous communities, especially the Tina weaver community has the capability to adapt to these environmental disturbances. 

Strengthening an interconnected connection between forestry governance and community actors is the first step to filling the void of translating the environmental rights of the indigenous people at the international level. It is because some indigenous members of the community remain unaware of the existing environmental laws and policies. Tools such as network mapping and innovation history could be useful to alleviate these barriers. What matters in this perspective is that the indigenous community should remain active in discussing issues related to the management, protection, and delineation of their ancestral lands.

(Tina, Palawan, Aborlan)

Raw Materials and harvest
The natural resources of the Tina weaver community are identified and protected through the Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan ( ADSDPP), the Tina Ancestral Domain provides the community and weaver the natural resources they need for their livelihood. Barangay Culandanum is richly endowed with diverse plants and animals. A wide range of forest products is identified in the area sustaining both home consumption and the market needs of the residents. The physical and natural resources surrounding the community are abundant owing to vast areas of ancestral lands still covered in thick forest/vegetation. However, the available resources for livelihood are limited only for the tribe’s daily maintenance and consumption. In the case of the raw materials, both Pandan and Yantok, the weaving community rests on mountain ranges with abundant supply of raw materials. Since the process of harvesting raw materials like Pandan poses some danger to life as they go deeper into the forests, it is intuitive to encourage them to establish plantation areas near them.


Climate and soil type are ideal for plantation and weaving enterprises. The Tina community climate  is typical for the western side of Aborlan wherein there are pronounced dry (from November to April) and wet (the rest of the year) seasons. Generally, the soil  can be classified into rough mountain soil type which is suitable for forest growth and preservation purposes.

Pandan plantation and weaving workshop
With the support of this project and Life College a collective agreement and the formation of a sustainable land use and regenerative management plan had been developed that is aligned to the local and national government’s 2030 agenda.

Additionally, a workshop on sustainable land use and weaving practices had been developed with the community. In co-creation with students from the Life College in Palawan the Tina weaver community have developed and planted a Pandan location near the village in terms with regenerative permaculture principles. The leaders of the community developed a manual for land management and framework for using the weavers workshop location in the community.

(students planting the Pandan plantation)

Support has been given by improving tools for processing the material, and better spaces for processing and bringing back indiginous knowledge on dyeing material that have become lost in the practice of quick syntethic dyes.

The community developed and brought back knowledge that was in place but not practices and exploring how their ecosystem and producing of materials can be improved, affecting not only the quality of the products but moreso the quality of living and learning from the land and its ecosystem species.

(co-designed community weaver center )

The weaving center is situated in the middle of the Tina community, 160 meters above sea level and the pandan plantation area is 743 meters southeast from the weaving center with an elevation of 45 meters. The access route goes across the Tina community and the Culandanum Water Treatment Facility and then passes along the riverside. The aforementioned pandan plantation is approximated to cover 2,343 square meters.


The route has visible pathway on foot which is easy to follow and to walk on with very little to no obstruction along the way. The pathway is very accessible for the farmers when they are to haul equipment and harvest goods. Non-fruit bearing plants and lumber trees abound in the forest. There are few wild crawling creatures in the region, which is also quite humid and abundant of wild insects. The pandan plantation area is beside the river and is located 673 feet (205 meters) above sea level.

Pandan and Yantok as the primary raw materials for weaving. The most promising livelihood in the community is crafting. Of the women members of the Tina weaving community, most indulged in weaving practices that mainly utilise different types of Pandan leaves. On one hand, Pandan is mostly associated with women in the community because they are accessible for harvest from the wild. Pandan grows by densely thick forest, mountains, hills, and slopes with damp and fertile grounds. On the other hand, or locally known as yantok is a palm tree that belongs to the subfamily Calamoideae. Rattan has a vine-like characteristic since it scrambles through and over other vegetation. In Southeast Asian countries, like the Philippines, this species thrives in the open- to closed-canopy old-growth tropical forests. In Sitio Tina, rattan is commonly found near the riverbanks and plays the role of proactive covering for the forest, source of water, and maintaining soil moisture.

Pandan, Screw Pine or Pandanus is a palm-like, thorny, and wild plant with a variety of uses. This serves as raw material for weaving. Alternatively, they sell bundled and partially processed pandan strips. The estimated aggregate plantation size of pandan spans across thousands of hectares – as they grow naturally (wildly) and sporadically around Tina and its surrounding mountain ranges. The raw Pandan for weaving come from the forest. Gathering and processing of raw materials take place whole year round, especially when there is demand and local weather is suitable for harvesting.

Suitable young pandan leaves are first cut off from the shaft of the pandan plant. The harvester, mostly women, uses guess estimation to gather the required number of raw materials. They take what they need to use, and leave the shoot for growth of new buds. Sharp knife is used to remove the leaves from the shaft as well as de-thorn. From cutting of leaves until ready for weaving or selling as raw materials takes 1 to 3 full days. In gathering, the harvester faces potential danger.

While the forest has an abundant supply of pandan, gatherers face many dangers including being chased by wild animals, wasps (turong) among others. The harvested leaves are then dried under the sun until its color turns brown. On a usual sunny day in the village, it would take a half or a whole day to dry up the leaves.

By midday, the pandan should be dry and ready for weaving, otherwise it will be burnt or blacked when left out. Sometimes when the weather is not sunny, it can take about 2 days to dry the leaves. One sustainable practice that the weavers do is they only harvest as much as they need and they avoid stocking up materials. If they do so, the stock would only mold, for which they do not know the reason. The leaves are also ensured to be appropriately dried (saktong tuyo) especially when they need to stock it for a few days, or it will also mold.

The third step is the leaves are flattened or smoothened and cut called lilas using diangat, which is a cutting tool with 3 sharp blades. The blade is glided over the leaves several times before it is cut lengthwise. Each piece should be smooth and equal in length. Unequal ones are rejected. Once cut and smoothened, it is ready for the next step. The blades need to be very sharp because it could bend the leaf. Alternatively, a tin can can be used to strip the pandan.

Yantok is a palm tree tribe in the subfamily Calamoideae and a member of rattan (genus Calamus). In Sitio Tina, yantok is commonly found near the riverbanks. Similar with Pandan, the raw product preparation for yantok begins at harvesting the materials. There is plenty of supply in the area. From the community’s centre, all surrounding areas to the mountains is a hundred hectares of ancestral land where yantok grow naturally.

According to one respondent, “When I worked for Katala Foundation, I had the chance to reach the peak where the town of Narra could be seen. From here to that point, there is still an abundant supply of yantok. It would be difficult to consume everything.” They have tried planting yantok since the areas where they gather and harvest are still ‘thick.’ The growth of yantok is quick. When yantok fruits fall into the ground, they easily grow. Also, some would grow from its shoot.

There are plenty of varieties of yantok. Each variety is known by the locals through their leaves and their stems. Since they are familiar with them already, they can easily identify which ones to use for a particular product, even if those are cut into pieces. There is also no specific time to harvest yantok; and when they do, they only do if there are demands.

Usually, they leave their house at 7AM or depending on the time they needed to be back. It is also always better to harvest when it is not raining. The cutting process is known as ‘pagbuoyaken’ and the cleaning process is ‘pagbaros’ or ‘pag-agos.’

Pagbuoyaken (cutting) The next step is to cut or strip the yantok according to the product, the Tagbanua term for this is Pagbu’yaken. Afterwhich, cleaning or smoothening the surface parts is called ‘baros’.

Pagbaros (cleaning) The tool used in ‘pagbabaros’ is the ‘pisaw’, which appears like a small knife usually sharpened through stones. To date, pisaw is the only tool they could identify used in this craft, “Yes, our generation only saw Pisaw.” Once the yantok is clean and thin, it is now ready for use.