Staying Alive: Sustainability in Philippine Upland Management Systems

Abstract

Upland areas are an important but increasingly threatened Philippine ecosystem. Land use intensification, caused mainly by increasing population, has negatively impacted both the local and downstream environments. This study was conducted in three upland communities. Study goals were to describe existing systems, assess system sustainability, identify factors affecting management decision making, develop models of decision making, and identify systems that could serve as models for future development efforts. The study employed data collected from residents using informal interviews, observations, and a structured questionnaire, as well as information on agronomic, soil and climatic conditions. Three combinations of the agroecosystem analysis properties: productivity, stability, resilience, maintenance, equitability, autonomy, solidarity, diversity and adaptability, were used to assess system sustainability at the household and community levels. A decision tree framework was used to develop household management decision making models. The sustainability of all three communities was rated low to moderate, and the majority of the twenty example households had moderate sustainability levels. Two households were rated high while three were rated low. Differences in economic and biological productivity and in the magnitude of stress placed on the natural environment were the primary factors that differentiated between the sustainability ratings at both the community and household levels. Both household and community sustainability levels were determined by the dynamic interactions between management activities, soil and rainfall constraints to management activities, and the availability of markets and information. Decision tree models were developed for agricultural land management decisions in the three communities. The most important influences on decision making appeared to be land availability and type, labor availability, and market opportunities. Seven case studies described household management systems based primarily on perennial species and identified land, labor, markets, and an alternative source of livelihood as the primary contributing factors to the adoption of perennial-based systems. Study results indicated that the situation in these upland areas was relatively stable. Most management systems were moderately sustainable. Results from the decision making models indicated that the provision of infrastructure, market opportunities, and tenure security were most likely to facilitate adoption of more environmentally sustainable management strategies based on perennial species.