ABSTRACT

Afforestation is one potential action for improving the environment from local to global scales. Deforestation plagues many regions of the world and in recent times, there are ongoing efforts by some countries to expand afforestation programs. One key decision in the design of afforestation programs is species selection. Here, we demonstrate species selection for afforestation using two different multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques. The study covers two regions within the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and is based on their ongoing project, the Billion Tree Tsunami. We considered six criteria for decision making. These criteria included cost, reproducibility, growth rate, environmental compatibility (including soil compatibility, temperature, rainfall requirements), environmental effects (including transpiration rate, evergreen or not, soil erosion control) and uses (medical, constructional and fodder). The results of both MCDM methods were comparable, suggesting that our findings are acceptable and consistent. The study is useful for the forestry department at local and international levels. Additionally, it is informative for researchers and readers with an interest in the application of MCDM in forestry.

摘要

造林是从地方到全球范围改善环境的一项潜在行动。毁林困扰着世界许多地区，近来，一些国家正在不断努力扩大造林计划。造林计划设计中的一个关键决定是物种选择。在这里，我们演示了使用两种不同的多标准决策（MCDM）技术进行绿化的物种选择。这项研究涵盖了巴基斯坦开伯尔·普赫图赫瓦省的两个地区，并基于他们正在进行的项目“十亿棵树海啸”。我们考虑了六项决策标准。这些标准包括成本，可重复性，增长率，环境相容性（包括土壤相容性，温度，降雨要求），环境影响（包括蒸腾速率，是否常绿，土壤侵蚀控制）和用途（医疗，建筑和饲料）。两种MCDM方法的结果均具有可比性，表明我们的发现是可以接受的并且是一致的。这项研究对地方和国际林业部门很有用。此外，它对于对MCDM在林业中的应用感兴趣的研究人员和读者也很有帮助。