Use of multi-criteria analysis (MCA) for supporting community forest management

Abstract

© iForest -Biogeosciences and Forestry Introduction Approaches in community forestry managementCommunity forestry has shifted from traditional participatory, to participatory and collaborative management approaches that integrate local and scientific knowledge (e.g., Walters 1986, Maser 1996, Schreiber et al. 2004. The involvement of stakeholders to manage the forests as community forestry has become a widely accepted participatory management philosophy, along with the sustainability concept. In this regard, the concept of sustainability has become a dominant paradigm for the management of the remaining global forests, particularly tropical forests (Khadka & Vacik 2012). The concept of criteria and indicators (C&I) has produced an increasing number of initiatives, which has contributed to the promotion and achievement of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM), such as monitoring, reporting and management instruments at a global, national and community management level. In its early phase, the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) began to develop C&I sets (ITTO 1992(ITTO , 1993 and as yet, nine eco-regional forestry processes have been established (Wijewardana 2008), involving 149 countries, whose combined forest area equals 97.5 percent of the world's total forest area. Among others, the Pan-European and the Montreal processes for temperate and boreal forests, dry zone Africa process for arid zones forests, the African Timber Organization (ATO) Process; the near east process and the regional initiatives for dry forests in Asia process.The traditional meaning of sustainability in terms of sustained yield was radically expanded (Glück 1995). Sustainable forest management is defined as "stewardship and use of forests and forest land in a way, and at a rate, that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, generation capacity, vitality, and their potential to fulfill now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic, and social functions at local, national, and global levels […]" (MCPFE 1993). However, there exists a wide variety of planning and management approaches which comprise different schools of thought and allow different impacts. Therefore, in community forest management the practical implementation of the planning approaches is often highly debated and a promising approach is hardly identified. In a traditional participatory planning and management approach, goals are set and one management strategy is selected as the optimal one (Linkov et al. 2006). It has been often criticized that in such a setting process information sharing is restricted, stereotypes are reinforced, and that a limited public involvement in the plan development, as well as win-lose solutions, are generally promoted (Friedmann 1973, Susskind & Cruiskshank 1987, Blahna & Yonts'-Shepard 1989, Maser 1996, Wondolleck & Yaffee 2000. Walters (1986) introduced the concept of an evolutionary ("trial and error") approach, which is closely linked to the traditional participatory approach, but starts with a haphazard set of choices ...

Making objective forest stand maps of mixed managed forest with spatial interpolation and multi-criteria decision analysis

“…For this reason, multi-function criteria are often used in forest planning in addition to conventional management criteria, and MCDA has been carried out in different decision-making contexts in forestry. Khadka & Vacik (2012) used multi-criteria analysis to support community forest management including 6 criteria and 40 profiles. Huth et al (2005) used multi-criteria analysis to support decisions on harvest volume based on the criteria of rotation, harvest intensity, and target diameter.…”

Community owned solutions: identifying local best practices for social-ecological sustainability

“…This method was chosen because it provided a structured approach for comparing different options, i.e., the viable strategies, and for selecting the most suitable ones according to overall preferences, i.e., the criteria (Belton and Stewart 2002). The options can be compared by being rated against a set of criteria that represent different desirable objectives (Mendoza andPrabhu 2005, Khadka andVacik 2012). The options that manage to fulfil the highest number of desirable objectives are thus very likely to be selected (Recchia et al 2011).…”

A case study assessment of socio-economic sustainability and alternative management regimes for state forest plantations in Limpopo Province, South Africa

“…SFM evaluation has been often conducted through audits by certification bodies such as the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) and government forestry departments through the use of Criteria and Indicators (C&I). The C&I approach has also been used in modern SFM evaluation by independent researchers such as in the assessment of sustainability of community forest management in northern Ethiopia (Balana et al 2010), assessment of community forestry management activities and alternatives in Nepal (Khadka and Vacik 2012) and in India (Datta and Chatterjee 2012).…”

“…in Nepal (Khadka and Vacik 2012) while little is known in southern Africa. Acquiring perceptions and preferences of the local communities eliminates the potential problems associated with top-down approaches.…”