Local perceptions of nature in Pinacanauan in Tuguegarao River corridor: a case study of Tuguegarao and Penablanca residents in northeast Luzon, Philippines

Perceptions of local people play an important role in assessing their daily encounters and needs in their environment and can be useful measure towards the effective implementation of conservation programs. This study examines the various perceptions
of local people on nature living in the landscape of Cagayan province situated in Northeast Luzon, Philippines. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the research focused on study sites straddling along the Pinacanauan de
Tuguegarao River. These included two villages within the municipality of Penablanca
and 18 villages of Tuguegarao City.

The research adopted a universal and systematic technique in the Netherlands called `visions of nature' in addition to open interviews and photo-ranking approaches in
examining local people's perceptions. Using stratified random sampling, a total of 120
households consisting of poor to middle class urban farmers, poor to middle class urban
dwellers, poor to middle class lowland rural farmers and poor to middle class upland
rural farmers were interviewed by means of semi-structured interviews. The background variables were gathered along with qualitative data encoded and subjected to statistical analysis.

A typology of perceptions was developed and classified into various types showing the functional and non-functional aspects of nature. Distributional scores were obtained and compared using a combination of independent and dependent variables. Our results showed that there is significant difference between major perceptions among the various occupational groups and significant differences as affected by a number of factors. Local people's perceptions are indeed affected by the environment they live in.
Furthermore, the perceptions on nature by the urban dwellers are analogous to the visions of nature in the Western world.