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The socio-economic conditions of communities are determinants of their capacity to protect and sustain a healthy watershed. Some of the most urgent poverty-related issues in the Tigum-Aganan Watershed are within communities located in the upland areas and along the coastal zone. These communities have an annual average income ranging from about PhP 17,000 to PhP 20,000, which is slightly above the provincial poverty threshold of PhP 16,584, but well below the accepted level needed to stay out of poverty. The main source of livelihood in upland communities is small-scale farming (vegetables, rice, corn, root crops), fruit-growing (bananas and a variety of others), agro-forestry (bamboo), livestock raising, collection of fuel wood and charcoal making. While a major generator of income for upland communities, agriculture can negatively affect water quality through pesticide residue, increase surface runoff through the extent of forestlands cleared for grazing or farming, and place competing demands on finite water resources through irrigation. The gathering of fuel wood and charcoal production is a major source of livelihood for over 1,100 households, located mostly in the upland areas. Much of this economic activity takes place within the boundaries of the Maasin Watershed Forest Reserve and is a major contributor to upland deforestation. Siltation emanating from the river basin has brought about destruction to fish habitats and the decimation of fish stocks in and around coastal areas of the TAW. This means that today fewer than 10% of households sampled during an earlier study were found to be engaged in fishing as an economic activity. While there are considerable numbers of indigent communities in lowland areas, upland dwellers constitute the majority of TAW communities that do not have access to potable, piped water, one of the major indicators of poverty. Only 32% of households in upland municipalities have access to piped water (i.e., in-house pipe, or from a communal standpipe), with the remainder obtaining water from ponds, springs or shallow wells. Upland municipalities tend to fare lower in terms of the access to Rural Health Units (RHUs) and to public schools, as compared to lowland communities. Communities in the ecologically important upland areas need to be introduced to other forms of income-generating activities that require less direct utilization of forest resources. One way to do this is to facilitate the creation of local businesses in the area that enable communities to reap benefits from their natural assets, without having to use them up or degrade them. Eco-tourism and organic agriculture are potential local businesses that these communities can be encouraged to pursue more vigorously.
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