The houses built to survive floods

The houses built to survive floods Gab Mejia Marites Babanto, an indigenous Manobo leader of Lake Panlabuhan, paddles her baroto – a traditional wooden canoe – through her floating community The Manobo indigenous people live and thrive on a vast wetland in the Philippines – despite dealing with dozens of storms and floods per year. Gab Mejia The floating houses of the Manobo indigenous people in Lake Panlabuhan in the Agusan Marshlands Sign up to Future Earth Sign up to the Future Earth newsletter to get essential climate news and hopeful developments in your inbox every Tuesday from Carl Nasman. Gab Mejia Manobo children play in their parents' traditional canoes after attending lessons in their floating school The floating communities are part of the Agusan Marshlands Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected area of some 14,800 hectares with swamps, peatland and 59 lakes, nestled in the heart of Mindanao, the Philippines second largest island. "This awareness coupled with their confidence in their own indigenous knowledge and practices has ensured the Agusan Manobo's continued survival for a very long time," says Henares, who is also the secretary general of the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines, and has worked with the Manobo community for a decade.