Mapping the optimal forest road network based on the multicriteria evaluation technique: the case study of Mediterranean Island of Thassos in Greece

Abstract

The sustainable management of forest resources can only be achieved through a well-organized road network designed with the optimal spatial planning and the minimum environmental impacts. This paper describes the spatial layout mapping for the optimal forest road network and the environmental impacts evaluation that are caused to the natural environment based on the multicriteria evaluation (MCE) technique at the Mediterranean island of Thassos in Greece. Data analysis and its presentation are achieved through a spatial decision support system using the MCE method with the contribution of geographic information systems (GIS). With the use of the MCE technique, we evaluated the human impact intensity to the forest ecosystem as well as the ecosystem’s absorption from the impacts that are caused from the forest roads’ construction. For the human impact intensity evaluation, the criteria that were used are as follows: the forest’s protection percentage, the forest road density, the applied skidding means (with either the use of tractors or the cable logging systems in timber skidding), the timber skidding direction, the visitors’ number and truck load, the distance between forest roads and streams, the distance between forest roads and the forest boundaries, and the probability that the forest roads are located on sights with unstable soils. In addition, for the ecosystem’s absorption evaluation, we used forestry, topographical, and social criteria. The recommended MCE technique which is described in this study provides a powerful, useful, and easy-to-use implement in order to combine the sustainable utilization of natural resources and the environmental protection in Mediterranean ecosystems.

Using GIS-based Network Analysis to Evaluate the Accessible Forest Areas Considering Forest Fires: The Case of Sarajevo

“…Besides, building new roads can assist forest managers in fighting against forest fires. The computer-based approaches presented in previous studies where GIS applications, optimization techniques, and multi-criteria decision making methods were facilitated can be used in designing and planning of forest road networks in fire sensitive areas (Najafi and Richards, 2013;Tampekis et al, 2015;Laschi et al, 2016;Grigolato et al, 2017). Improving the technical standards of the existing forest roads will also help to expand the accessible forest areas within the critical response time, as the average speed of fire trucks would be higher in high standard roads.…”

Evaluation of Optical Remote Sensing Data in Burned Areas Mapping of Thasos Island, Greece

“…The two fires that are depicted are between 2016 and 2018. The fire of 2016 was a mixed crown and surface fire that burned for 8 days, while the fire of 2018 was a mainly crown fire that destroyed 11.870 ha of different land types (Sakellariou et al 2019;Tampekis et al 2015).…”

Effects of forest roads and an assessment of their disturbance of the natural enviroment based on GIS spatial multi-criteria analysis: case study of the University Forest of Taxiarchis, Chalkidiki, Greece

“…A successful forest road network is considered to be one that has the optimal density and spatial variability to serve all the parameters that concern both the protection of the natural environment and servicing human activities (Stückelberger et al 2006a;Tampekis et al 2015). To achieve sustainable management, forest stakeholders are called upon to balance the environmental, economic and social costs and benefits when planning the forest road network (Pelyukh et al 2021;Stuckelberger et al 2007) by having a complete view of the resulting spatial disturbance (Akay et al 2020).…”

“…The combination of an MCE method with GIS is a strong tool for supporting decision analysis systems (Shuaibu and Kara 2019;Papamichael et al 2023a, b). The method takes into consideration two general categories of criteria: the evaluation of the intensity of the impact of the forest roads and the evaluation of the absorption of the impact of the forest road by the natural environment (Picchio et al 2018;Zhang et al 2020;Tampekis et al 2015;Acar et al 2017). This approach makes it possible to assess the spatial distribution and the management of the forest road network in combination with the ability of the natural environment to absorb the impact.…”