Citing cases in various Southeast Asian uplands but focusing on a specific Philippine upland illustration in Bukidnon in Southern Philippines, this feature story looks at the relationship between development and the state of a country's natural resources. While asserting that development per se is not to be blamed, it cautions, however, that development--the kind which disregards and does not take into account good environmental and natural resources management for sustainability--cannot proceed without taking a corresponding toll. Hopefully, therefore, the residents of communities will take it upon themselves to be vanguards and protectors of their own ecosystems as they pursue the development path.
