Manobo children getting ready for a harvest ritual. Photo by Dave de Vera but who may have been displaced from their traditional domains or who may have resettled outside the ancestral domains (IPRA, Chapter II, Section 3h).” A vast majority of the estimated country’s indigenous peoples reside in the uplands with the remaining biodiverse ecosystems that they claim as part of their ancestral domain (AD). Out of the 128 identified key biodiversity areas, 96 or 75% are within the traditional territories of IPs. Most indigenous communities, however, do not have legal recognition over their traditional lands, thus limiting their ability to freely conduct their livelihood activities and traditional resource management. Challenges the sector faces The destruction of the environment continues at an alarming rate and the loss of its forest cover has increased exponentially in the last two decades. The country also has to cope with an influx of mining operations and other extractive development activities in its uplands. Further, the demand for land and natural resources continues Lok Niti 97