The communities’ economic link to the Forest Reserve El Montuoso (FRM) was analyzed using a stra-tified cluster sampling. Communities depend on the direct benefits from this ecosystem for its survival, through the availability (87 per cent of the homes) and use of their lands for agricultural purposes (74 per cent), in rice and corn crops for self-consumption, and livestock and poultry production (76 per cent), mainly chickens and pigs. Crop and livestock farming allow residents to have access to unpaid jobs or self-employments (53 per cent) and to paid jobs, mainly for temporary farmworkers. Likewise, 67 per cent of the families generate monetary re-venues through the sale of products, mainly livestock. The families’ income indicators are all relatively low evidencing the high state of poverty of these communities. The benefits obtained by the FRM are threatened by the degradation of the ecosystem as a result of deforestation, the use of inappropriate technologies, such as tree-felling and burning, and the non-incorporation of conservation practices.