Analysis of the farmers

The degree of knowledge on ecosystem services of trees largely depend on the farmers’
experiential association including goods and services derived from the trees. This paper
sought to determine the farmers’ knowledge on the ecosystem services derived from trees
found within the Molawin-Dampalit Watershed. Specifically, it aimed to acharacterize the
socio-demographic conditions of the farmer respondents and determine farmers’ knowledge
on the ecosystem services.
Results reveal that 11 major woody perennial (trees) species provide economic,
ecological and cultural services. These include acacia (Samanea saman), malunggay (Moringa oleifera), narra (Pterocarpus indicus), coconut (Cocos nucifera), banaba (Lagerstroemia speciosa), neem (Azadirachta indica), pine (Pinus sp.) and various species
of fruit trees. The ecological services had the highest knowledge score of 13.29, while the
cultural services had the lowest score of 0.38. The farmers’ knowledge on the economic
service of on-farm trees got an average score of 10.23. Furthermore, the correlation of the
knowledge scores on the ecosystem services indicates a negative correlation of the cultural
services with the ecological services.
These results suggest that the farmers are aware of the positive ecological value
of integrating trees in their production system. Furthermore, the level of the farmers’
knowledge on the ecosystem services of trees indicates the probable significant influence
on the farmers’ production system, particularly in integrating woody perennials in their
farming system. Therefore, scaling-up the domestication of trees on-farm for better
ecosystem services is imperative.