ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS TO SELECT FOREST MANAGEMENT METHODS IN DURANGO

Abstract

The forests of the state of Durango have been managed for more than 100 years in some regions. At present, the preference towards any method is at the substand level within each land, from a decision tree that includes questions in terms of the value of different parameters. However, this system does not allow to take into account other criteria that could be involved in each particular case. The MPC 2.01 MEX© program facilitates the selection of a forest management method by the forest manager, developing the multicriteria decisions making methodology of comparison by pairs (Analytic Hierarchy Process or AHP). The program considers a group of environmental, social, economic, and technical sustainability criteria in the decision type, and includes four alternatives of management: MMOBI (Mexican Method of Irregular Forests Regulation), MDS (Method for Forestry Development), Clear Cutting and Not to cut. Its application was analyzed in a land of Durango state, Mexico. Results indicate that slope is one of the most appreciated criteria at the moment of the management election, as well as the annual current increment and the establishment costs or regeneration management. The MMOBI and the MDS emphasized under great part of the criteria, while the application of Clear Cutting obtained the maximum score under the wood estimated incomes criterion; the Not to cut alternative was the most valued one under the criterion of costs establishment or regeneration management.