Procjena aktivnosti sanacijske sječe nakon požara u mediteranskom području Turske

Various problems such as massive volume loss, erosion, degradation of water resources, and air pollution emerge after forest fire incidents. Thus, necessary forest operations should be quickly planned and implemented after forest fires so that afforestation activities can take place immediately to maintain forest vegetation in burned areas. The aim of this study was developing a Post-fire Action Planning (PFAP) model to minimize the time spent on salvage logging activities. PFAP model will assist decision makers for removing salvage timber in a timely manner after large scale forest fires, while considering economic and environmental constraints, and dealing with available employment conditions in local forest industry. The capabilities of this model were examined by standardizing the operational planning and developing a fast decision-making process. The model was implemented in Taşağıl Forest Enterprise Chiefs (FEC) of Antalya Forest Regional Directorate where the forests are sensitivity to fire at the first degree level and the second largest forest fire in the history of Turkish Forestry occurred in this area in 2008. The findings of PFAP model were compared with the data of actual salvage logging operation obtained from the FEC. The results indicated that using operational planning based PFAP model is capable of reducing total time spent on salvage logging operation by about 60%. Based on the forestry compartments of the study area, estimated durations of salvage logging operations were 15 to 75 days less than that of actual operations taken place in the field. Therefore, it is highly anticipated that using operational planning based PFAP model has great potential to provide economically and environmentally sound forest operations after forest fires.Nakon šumskih požara nastaju različiti problemi, kao što je velik gubitak drvne mase, erozije tla, degradacija pitkih izvora vode te onečišćenje zraka. Neophodno je kvalitetno i učinkovito isplanirati i implementirati potrebne šumske operacije nakon šumskog požara, kako bi se odmah moglo započeti s pošumljavanjem u svrhu održanja šumske vegetacije u izgorenim područjima. Cilj ovoga istraživanja je bio razvoj modela planiranja aktivnosti nakon požara, kako bi se smanjilo vrijeme utrošeno na aktivnosti sanitarne sječe. Model planiranja aktivnosti nakon požara pomoći će donositeljima odluka u pravovremenom uklanjanju saniranih debla nakon velikih šumskih požara, uzimajući u obzir ekonomska i ekološka ograničenja te rješavajući mogućnost zapošljavanja u lokalnoj drvnoj industriji. Mogućnosti ovoga modela provjerene su pomoću standardizacije operativnog planiranja i razvoja procesa brzog donošenja odluka. Model je implementiran u šumariji Taşağıl Regionalne uprave za šume Antalya, gdje su šume svrstane u prvi stupanj opasnosti od požara te se drugi najveći šumski požar u povijesti Turske uprave za šume dogodio upravo na ovome području 2008. godine. Rezultati ovoga modela uspoređeni su s podatcima stvarnih sanacijskih sječa dobivenih od šumarija. Rezultati su pokazali da se korištenjem operativnog planiranja temeljem modela planiranja aktivnosti nakon požara može smanjiti ukupno vrijeme utrošeno na sanacijske sječe za 60%. S obzirom na različite šumske odjeljke u istraživanome području, procijenjeno trajanje sanacijske sječe bilo je 15 do 75 dana kraće od stvarnih operacija na terenu. Prema tome, očekuje se da korištenje operativnog planiranja temeljem modela planiranja aktivnosti nakon požara ima velik potencijal u osiguravanju ekonomski i ekološki korisnih šumskih radova nakon šumskih požara

Concept to Practice of Geospatial-Information Tools to Assist Forest Management and Planning under Precision Forestry Framework: a review

Precision forestry is a new direction for better forest management. Precision forestry employs information technology and analytical tools to support economic, environmental and sustainable decision; the use of geospatial information tools enables highly repeatable measurements, actions and processes to manage and harvest forest stands, simultaneously allowing information linkages between production and wood supply chain, including resource managers and environmental community. In this report, we reviewed the most recent advances in the use of geospatial information technologies in forestry, and discussed their potential opportunities and challenges towards forest management and planning in the framework of precision forestry

Decision support systems for forest management: a comparative analysis and assessment

Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2013. 12.005.[EN] Decision Support Systems (DSS) are essential tools for forest management practitioners to help take account of the many environmental, economic, administrative, legal and social aspects in forest management. The most appropriate techniques to solve a particular instance usually depend on the characteristics of the decision problem. Thus, the objective of this article is to evaluate the models and methods that have been used in developing DSS for forest management, taking into account all important features to categorize the forest problems. It is interesting to know the appropriate methods to answer specific problems, as well as the strengths and drawbacks of each method. We have also pointed out new approaches to deal with the newest trends and issues. The problem nature has been related to the temporal scale, spatial context, spatial scale, number of objectives and decision makers or stakeholders and goods and services involved. Some of these problem dimensions are inter-related, and we also found a significant relationship between various methods and problem dimensions, all of which have been analysed using contingency tables. The results showed that 63% of forest DSS use simulation modelling methods and these are particularly related to the spatial context and spatial scale and the number of people involved in taking a decision. The analysis showed how closely Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) is linked to problem types involving the consideration of the number of objectives, also with the goods and services. On the other hand, there was no significant relationship between optimization and statistical methods and problem dimensions, although they have been applied to approximately 60% and 16% of problems solved by DSS for forest management, respectively. Metaheuristics and spatial statistical methods are promising new approaches to deal with certain problem formulations and data sources. Nine out of ten DSS used an associated information system (Database and/or Geographic Information System - GIS), but the availability and quality of data continue to be an important constraining issue, and one that could cause considerable difficulty in implementing DSS in practice. Finally, the majority of DSS do not include environmental and social values and focus largely on market economic values. The results suggest a strong need to improve the capabilities of DSS in this regard, developing and applying MCDM models and incorporating them in the design of DSS for forest management in coming years.The authors acknowledge the support received from European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST Action FP0804 - Forest Management Decision Support Systems "FORSYS"), the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the research project Multiple Criteria and Group Decision Making integrated into Sustainable Management, Ref. ECO2011-27369 and Ministry of Education (Training Plan of University Teaching). We also thank the editor and reviewers for their suggestions to improve the paper.Segura Maroto, M.; Ray, D.; Maroto Álvarez, MC. (2014). Decision support systems for forest management: a comparative analysis and assessment. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. 101:55-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2013.12.005S556710

Public perception of wildfire risk and prescribed burning in the wildland/urban interface of the Louisiana Florida parishes

Wildfire has been suppressed in the nation’s forests for over a hundred years. The accumulation of forest fuels over time has created an urgent need to reduce fuel loads to prevent catastrophic wildfires from occurring, not only in our wildlands, but also in our Wildland/Urban Interfaces (WUI’s). The residents who live within the WUI are particularly vulnerable to extreme wildfire events. As cities become more densely populated, increasing numbers of people are moving beyond the suburbs into the WUI. A complex matrix of structures and forested land, developing communities, and impinging forests exists within the WUI. This study utilized a survey instrument to elicit perceptions of wildfire risk and prescribed burning practices from residents within the WUI in the Florida parishes of southeastern Louisiana. Residents within the WUI show increasing interest in learning more about wildfire risk, acceptance for traditional forest management practices, such as prescribed burning, and willingness to interact with and receive education from the forest professionals in their region. The analysis of the data provides statistical support for the conclusion that the overall perception of wildfire risk is low and the acceptance of prescribed burning is high

Operations research for decision support in wildfire management

The February 2009 ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires resulted in 173 fatalities, caused AUD$4 billion in damage and provided a stark reminder of the destructive potential of wildfire. Globally, wildfire-related destruction appears to be worsening with observed increases in fire occurrence and severity. Wildfire management is a difficult undertaking and involves a complex mix of interrelated components operating across varying temporal and spatial scales. This thesis explores how operations research methods may be employed to provide decision support to wildfire managers so as to reduce the harmful impacts of wildfires on people, communities and natural resources. Some defining challenges of wildfire management are identified, namely complexity, multiple conflicting objectives and uncertainty. A range of operations research methods that can resolve these difficulties are then presented together with illustrative examples from the wildfire and disaster operations research literature. Three mixed integer programming models are then proposed to address specific real-world wildfire management problems. The first model incorporates the complementray effects of fuel treatment and supression preparedness decisions within an integrated framework. The second model schedules fuel treatments across multiple time periods to maintain fire resistant landscape patterns while satisfying various ecological and operational requirements. The third model aggregates fuel treatment units to minimise total perimeter requiring management

Computer-based tools for supporting forest management. The experience and the expertise world-wide

Report of Cost Action FP 0804 Forest Management Decision Support Systems (FORSYS)Computer-based tools for supporting forest management. The experience and the expertise world-wide answers a call from both the research and the professional communities for a synthesis of current knowledge about the use of computerized tools in forest management planning. According to the aims of the Forest Management Decision Support Systems (FORSYS) (http://fp0804.emu.ee/) this synthesis is a critical success factor to develop a comprehensive quality reference for forest management decision support systems. The emphasis of the book is on identifying and assessing the support provided by computerized tools to enhance forest management planning in real-world contexts. The book thus identifies the management planning problems that prevail world-wide to discuss the architecture and the components of the tools used to address them. Of importance is the report of architecture approaches, models and methods, knowledge management and participatory planning techniques used to address specific management planning problems. We think that this synthesis may provide effective support to research and outreach activities that focus on the development of forest management decision support systems. It may contribute further to support forest managers when defining the requirements for a tool that best meets their needs. The first chapter of the book provides an introduction to the use of decision support systems in the forest sector and lays out the FORSYS framework for reporting the experience and expertise acquired in each country. Emphasis is on the FORSYS ontology to facilitate the sharing of experiences needed to characterize and evaluate the use of computerized tools when addressing forest management planning problems. The twenty six country reports share a structure designed to underline a problem-centric focus. Specifically, they all start with the identification of the management planning problems that are prevalent in the country and they move on to the characterization and assessment of the computerized tools used to address them. The reports were led by researchers with background and expertise in areas that range from ecological modeling to forest modeling, management planning and information and communication technology development. They benefited from the input provided by forest practitioners and by organizations that are responsible for developing and implementing forest management plans. A conclusions chapter highlights the success of bringing together such a wide range of disciplines and perspectives. This book benefited from voluntary contributions by 94 authors and from the involvement of several forest stakeholders from twenty six countries in Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia over a three-year period. We, the chair of FORSYS and the editorial committee of the publication, acknowledge and thank for the valuable contributions from all authors, editors, stakeholders and FORSYS actors involved in this project