"Economic development and environmental protection have often proved to be conflicting driving forces behind change in northwest Yunnan province, China. In 2003, the Sloping Land Conversion Program brought an end to traditional shifting cultivation in the Dulong valley—part of the Gaoligong Mountain Nature Reserve, Gongshan County— and is now threatening Drung people?s livelihood and culture while further increasing villagers? dependence on state subsidies. This paper addresses the implementation of this program and the difficulties encountered by locals in relation to environmental protection and economic development issues. It describes the specificities of swidden cultivation and explores aspects of human-environment relatedness in the Dulong Valley... Keywords: Dulong (Drung, Trung, T?rung), China, Yunnan, Sloping Land Conversion Program, swidden agriculture, biodiversity, development, livelihood, suicide.