The mountain terraces in the cordilleras of northern Luzon, Philippines, were included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in 1995. Propitiously, there was no mention of the word rice in the citation of the inclusion. It well may be because, when the Spanish explorers went up the cordilleras in the 16th-17th centuries, they made mention of the existence of terracing. However, no mention of rice was made.

Last year Croatia joined the world community in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage by holding an ICH conference and festival in Dubrovnik. In the last decade, numerous activities have taken place, but the basic question of how to continue promoting and protecting sensitive intangible assets remains.

The geography of Korea is ideal for growing lacquer trees. Optimal climate, topography, and soil conditions can be found across the country, and the lacquer produced is of the highest quality. This led to lacquerware crafts being highly valued in Korea over the years, and a uniquely Korean culture of lacquerware being developed.

The use of plant remedies in the treatment of ailments and diseases has been practiced by indigenous peoples for generations. In Timor-Leste, there are many plants commonly used as folk medicine such as papaya (known as ai-dila in the local language. It is a small, bushy tree with a hollow trunk, large palmate leaves, and oblong smooth-skinned fruits). In traditional practice, the most popular among Timorese communities is papaya as medicine to prevent various types of diseases. Medical papaya plants are potentially valuable medicine concerns on health reasons for both indigenous and modern communities in Timor-Leste. Therefore, it is crucial to protect its natural habitat. Realizing the importance of medical plant conservation has been ongoing for ages by the indigenous communities as intangible cultural heritage. This article focuses on the importance of conserving local practices (knowledge) about the role of papaya leaves as local medicine to prevent various types of illnesses.

Law and Legal Documents on ICH \n\nLaw on Cultural Heritage indicates clearly that the cultural heritage in Vietnam is the valuable property of all ethnic groups of Vietnam and has its significant role in the sustainable development of the country. \nIn compatible with the 2003 Convention Vietnam rectified in 2005, the Law on Cultural heritage (2001) amended in 2009 with some articles on the identification of ICH, management, its safeguarding measures and designation of the master practitioners. The Article 1 on the identification of ICH states that “ICH is the spiritual product that is attached to the communities or individuals, relevant to tangible culture and cultural space. It expresses the cultural identity of communities, and has been continuously recreated and transmitted from generation to generation orally, through apprentices, performances and other modes of transmission."\n

Dondang Sayang is a Malay traditional music and song that is well-known in the State of Malacca and still practised by four communities such as the Malay, Baba Nyonya, Chitty and Portuguese. The performances are accompanied by violin, rebana, gong and accordion and sing by two singers of the opposite sex, who sing in quatrains. It has received UNESCO’s recognition as a Representative List of The Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on 29th November 2018.

Folkland, International Centre for Folklore and Culture is an institution that was first registered on December 20, 1989 under the Societies Registration Act of 1860, vide No. 406/89. Over the last 16 years, it has passed through various stages of growth, especially in the fields of performance, production, documentation, and research, besides the preservation of folk art and culture.Since its inception in 1989, Folkland has passed through various phases of growth into a cultural organization with a global presence. As stated above, Folkland has delved deep into the fields of stage performance, production, documentation, and research, besides the preservation of folk art and culture. It has strived hard and treads the untrodden path with a clear motto of preservation and inculcation of old folk and cultural values in our society. Folkland has a veritable collection of folk songs, folk art forms, riddles, fables, myths, etc. that are on the verge of extinction. This collection has been recorded and archived well for scholastic endeavors and posterity. As such, Folkland defines itself as follows

Before modern hospitals appeared in Palau, German and Spanish missionaries brought medicines in the form of powder, tablets, and capsules. The local people were amazed to see such medicine and believed the medicine was from western gods. The reason for this belief is routed in history. Before western contact, people believed that illnesses were a result of curses, displeased gods, or the breaking of taboos. Traditional medicines were believed to restore health and vitality by breaking the curse, appeasing the gods, or restoring the spirit from a broken taboo.

Dance has been an inseparable element of Persian culture for thousands of years. Dance depictions on pottery excavated from prehistoric sites attest to the antiquity of this art. However, ritual dance, the precursor to Iranian royal court dances, can be traced back to the cult of Mithra (third century BCE).

The tug-of-war is one of the most well-known intangible cultural heritage elements that represent the Republic of Korea. Tug-of-war games were widely enjoyed by people across the country before the 1930s and 1940s. During the 1960s, the tug-of-war came under the protection of the Cultural Heritage Conservation Policy and has been appointed and is being managed by local and national governments. Locally, eight tug-of-war traditions have been inscribed on the national inventory list. Moreover, compared to other ICH element studies, of the element has been significantly researched.\n\nTug-of-war is a cultural heritage element of many East Asian nations, and these nations are preparing to nominate the element to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In this context, the goal of this paper is to discover universal traits in tug-of-war traditions in East Asia. However, besides the Republic of Korea and Japan, there is insufficient research on tug-of-war traditions in the region, which limits the scope of this presentation. In case of China, despite the existence of various records on tug-of-war in literature, the tradition as it exists in China today seems to be more of a sports match than a ritual event. I would also like to mention that this paper is a draft based on document records, the Internet, and the academic symposium hosted by Gijisi Tug-of-War Conservation Institute.

Traditional knowledge refers to the body of knowledge, indigenous practices and believes build up by of ethnic and local communities through generations of living in close contact with nature and transmitted through oral tradition and first hand observation from one generation to the other. Traditional knowledge is the essence of the identities and world views of indigenous and other people and constitutes the collective heritage and patrimony of the communities. With the advancement of science and technology and spread of modern education, a unique situation evolves. On one hand, the tradition bearers are trying to cope up with the modern advancement and development even at the cost of their traditional knowledge. On the other hand, the policy makers and educationist are now started to realise the importance of the traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions to maintain and preserve the colourful and diversity of cultures throughout the world. Moreover, this diversified knowledge are also in focus because of rising importance of “sustainable” and “green” development. \n\nAssam in the North East India with its variety of ethnic communities as well as other local populations presents a huge corpus of traditional knowledge. Assam being rich in natural resources also presents a unique situation of its varied manifestations by the ethnic communities through beliefs and religious practices, ceremonies, cultural values, food habits, traditional medicines and healing practices, arts and crafts forms, traditional technologies and house patterns. However, with changing socio- economic and environmental conditions the traditional knowledge system of the indigenous population is being under threat. \n\nTezpur University, specifically, the Department of Cultural Studies (known as the Department of Traditional Culture and Art Forms during its inception in the year 1996) have been involved in the study, documentation and research of Intangible and tangible cultural heritage of the region. The department have been engaged in field visit and research projects on various issues of ICH. However, through the project in question, an attempt was made to document the community traditional knowledge of Tezpur area of Assam, India with active participation of the women of the families as active partners and data collectors. It was executed by Tezpur University on a pilot basis in collaboration with Tezpur Mahila Samiti - a women organization working for wellbeing and economic development of women. Before starting of this project, periodic awareness programmes were undertaken by the museum, Department of Cultural Studies, Tezpur University among the common people regarding importance of heritage and need of its preservation.

"Comprising more than 17,500 islands, 1,300 ethnici- ties, and over 500 vernacular languages, Indonesia is blessed with an incredibly diverse heritage, both nat- ural and cultural, tangible and intangible. However, this also poses a tremendous challenge, particularly when it comes to safeguarding and conserving such a colorful collection of heritage. Badan Pelestarian Pusaka Indonesia (BPPI, the Indonesian Heritage Trust) was founded to answer the challenges of safeguarding Indonesia’s diverse heritage. It is a nonprofit organization comprised of heritage practitioners and advocates who share the common goal of safeguarding the sustainability of Indonesia’s natural, cultural, as well as landscape."