Balancing Livelihood and Conservation in a Biodiversity Hotspot

The need to eat, have shelter and clothing is continuously endangering our delicate coexistence with the environment. Greed and indifference have further made the link become so lopsided such that the environment is at the losing end. Man has readily abandoned their roles as protectors and managers of natural resources just to survive.

Such is the case in Mt. Malindang, Misamis Occidental, Philippines. Th e people’s continuous disregard for its forests, watersheds, and coastal areas can rapidly transform the Mt. Malindang landscape into the last frontier for the flora and fauna species endemic only to the Philippines.

The studies also affirmed Mt. Malindang as a biodiversity hotspot and priority conservation site with the increased presence of endangered and critically threathened endemic flora and fauna species. This is indeed proof of how people are depending on Mt. Malindang's resources for their basic needs and most important their livelihood.