Application of the Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and participatory decision-making in management of the National Park Fruška gora

Докторска дисертација нуди нови у приступ у доношењу одлука у управљању националним парковима. Предложени приступ комбинује вишекритеријумску анализу и теорију друштвеног избора, повезивањем Аналитичког хијерархијског процеса (АХП) и технике кумулативног гласања. Рад разматра могућност укључивања различитих интересних група у процес доношења одлука у вези са управљањем заштићеним подручјима. АХП је теоријски и методолошки концепт за подршку процеса индивидуалног и групног одлучивања. АХП је најчешће коришћен метод вишекритеријумске анализе за решавање различитих проблема у управљању природним ресурсима. Кумулативно гласање је гласачки модел који припада класи метода теорије друштвеног избора. Као и АХП, оцењен је као погодан за доношење одлука у управљању шумама и заштићеним подручјима. Шумарска служба САД је предложила коришћење метода теорије друштвеног избора у управљању националним парковима, али њихова шира примена, изузимајући ретке примере, није забележена. Кумулативно гласање може да обезбеди укључивање интересних група које нису довољно компетентне да изврше сва неопходна вредновања у АХП. Повезивање АХП и кумулативног гласања дозвољава укључивање различитих интересних група у процес доношења одлука и управљања заштићеним подручјима. Примена предложеног приступа је приказана на студији случаја – Национални парк „Фрушка гора”. Доносиоци одлука су били представници неколико кључних националних институција који су чинили групу „експерти” и представници локалних заједница, туристи и други који су чинили групу „јавност”. Истраживачки проблем је формулисан као дефинисање новог приступа за партиципативно одлучивање у избору најбољег плана управљања Националним парком „Фрушка гора”. План се односио на период од десет година. Најпре је било неопходно дефинисати хијерархију проблема одлучивања са циљем, критеријумима и алтернативама, као што захтева АХП метод. Циљ је дефинисан као избор најбољег плана управљања Националним парком „Фрушка гора”...The doctoral dissertation offers a new decision-making framework in management of protected areas. Proposed approach combines multi-criteria analysis and social choice theory, by linking Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and technique of cumulative voting. This paper considers the possibility of including different stakeholder groups in the decision-making process related to management of protected areas. Analytic Hierarchy Process is a theoretical and methodological concept for supporting the process of individual and group decision-making. AHP is the most frequently applied multi-criteria technique for solving various problems in management of natural resources. Cumulative voting is a voting model belonging to the class of social choice theory methods. Same as AHP, it is assessed as suitable for decisionmaking in management of forests and protected areas. US Forest Service recommended the use of social choice theory in management of national parks, but its wider application, except some rare examples, has not been documented. Cumulative voting can provide the inclusion of the stakeholders who are not competent enough to perform all necessary evaluations in AHP. Linking AHP and cumulative voting count allows participation of different stakeholder groups in the process of decision-making and management of protected areas. The application of proposed approach is shown on a case example of the National Park “Fruška gora”. Decision makers were: representatives of several key national institutions reffered to as “experts” and representatives of local communities, tourists and others reffered to as “public”. The research problem was focused on defining a new approach for participatory decision-making in selecting the best management plan for the National Park “Fruška gora”. The plan referred to the ten-year period. At the beginning, it was necessary to define the hierarchy of the research problem, with the goal, criteria and alternatives, as AHP method requires. The goal was articulated as: choosing the best management plan for the National Park “Fruška gora”..

Measuring Biodiversity in Forest Communities – A Role of Biodiversity Indices

Biodiversity refers to genetic, species and ecosystems varieties within an area. Two main characteristics that should be investigated when considering biodiversity are richness and evenness. Richness is related to the number of different species in the analyzed area, while evenness corresponds to the homogeneity of the abundance of species. For quantifying these features, many indices have been defined, and this paper offers an overview of the most commonly used biodiversity indices, such as Shannon, Simpson, Margalef and Berger-Parker. The paper explains the process of calculating these indices on the case study example of four forest communities and discusses the results obtained. The Jaccard index analysis is used to discover a similarity between the analyzed forest communities. Results from this part of the research are visualized by creating appropriate dendrograms for making the interpretation easier. Calculating and analyzing these indices is useful not only for forest ecosystems, but for the other types of ecosystems as well, including agro-ecosystems. Biodiversity indices can be obtained in thespecialized software, for instance in EstimateS (Statistical Estimation of Species Richness and Shared Species from Samples), or by programming in the statistical package R, as it was done in this research

Application of the Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and participatory decision-making in management of the National Park Fruška gora

Докторска дисертација нуди нови у приступ у доношењу одлука у управљању националним парковима. Предложени приступ комбинује вишекритеријумску анализу и теорију друштвеног избора, повезивањем Аналитичког хијерархијског процеса (АХП) и технике кумулативног гласања. Рад разматра могућност укључивања различитих интересних група у процес доношења одлука у вези са управљањем заштићеним подручјима. АХП је теоријски и методолошки концепт за подршку процеса индивидуалног и групног одлучивања. АХП је најчешће коришћен метод вишекритеријумске анализе за решавање различитих проблема у управљању природним ресурсима. Кумулативно гласање је гласачки модел који припада класи метода теорије друштвеног избора. Као и АХП, оцењен је као погодан за доношење одлука у управљању шумама и заштићеним подручјима. Шумарска служба САД је предложила коришћење метода теорије друштвеног избора у управљању националним парковима, али њихова шира примена, изузимајући ретке примере, није забележена. Кумулативно гласање може да обезбеди укључивање интересних група које нису довољно компетентне да изврше сва неопходна вредновања у АХП. Повезивање АХП и кумулативног гласања дозвољава укључивање различитих интересних група у процес доношења одлука и управљања заштићеним подручјима. Примена предложеног приступа је приказана на студији случаја – Национални парк „Фрушка гора”. Доносиоци одлука су били представници неколико кључних националних институција који су чинили групу „експерти” и представници локалних заједница, туристи и други који су чинили групу „јавност”. Истраживачки проблем је формулисан као дефинисање новог приступа за партиципативно одлучивање у избору најбољег плана управљања Националним парком „Фрушка гора”. План се односио на период од десет година. Најпре је било неопходно дефинисати хијерархију проблема одлучивања са циљем, критеријумима и алтернативама, као што захтева АХП метод. Циљ је дефинисан као избор најбољег плана управљања Националним парком „Фрушка гора”...The doctoral dissertation offers a new decision-making framework in management of protected areas. Proposed approach combines multi-criteria analysis and social choice theory, by linking Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and technique of cumulative voting. This paper considers the possibility of including different stakeholder groups in the decision-making process related to management of protected areas. Analytic Hierarchy Process is a theoretical and methodological concept for supporting the process of individual and group decision-making. AHP is the most frequently applied multi-criteria technique for solving various problems in management of natural resources. Cumulative voting is a voting model belonging to the class of social choice theory methods. Same as AHP, it is assessed as suitable for decisionmaking in management of forests and protected areas. US Forest Service recommended the use of social choice theory in management of national parks, but its wider application, except some rare examples, has not been documented. Cumulative voting can provide the inclusion of the stakeholders who are not competent enough to perform all necessary evaluations in AHP. Linking AHP and cumulative voting count allows participation of different stakeholder groups in the process of decision-making and management of protected areas. The application of proposed approach is shown on a case example of the National Park “Fruška gora”. Decision makers were: representatives of several key national institutions reffered to as “experts” and representatives of local communities, tourists and others reffered to as “public”. The research problem was focused on defining a new approach for participatory decision-making in selecting the best management plan for the National Park “Fruška gora”. The plan referred to the ten-year period. At the beginning, it was necessary to define the hierarchy of the research problem, with the goal, criteria and alternatives, as AHP method requires. The goal was articulated as: choosing the best management plan for the National Park “Fruška gora”..

Application of analytic hierarchy process in landscape management: Case study area Košutnjak park-forest

Proper management is one of key elements of the natural landscape protection strategy. Park-forests with protected and conserved natural elements represent attractive eco-tourism urban zones. Košutnjak is the most visited park-forest in Serbian capitol Belgrade, unfortunately with increasing number of degraded and devastated areas as a consequence of negative human impacts in the past. In order to conserve natural values in this popular forested city area, and to improve its tourism potential, we found that in achieving that goal, it is meaningful to asses possible management practices and identify the most desired one by applying the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), scientifically sound multi-criteria decision making tool. Based on the obtained results, a recommended strategy is to renovate natural vegetation and to promote recreational and tourism offer in Košutnjak with respect of the sustainability principle

Non-native and invasive tree species - their impact on biodiversity loss

The paper gives an overview of non-native and invasive tree species, and offers the basic data about their current presence in European forests. It deals with definitions and classifications and explains how these species can affect new environment with the emphasis on local biodiversity loss. The process of invasion is also explained, emphasizing that there is a lag phase in which a species does not reveal its invasiveness, which can last even a few centuries (for certain species). That is why it is important to monitor non-native species and prevent their further establishment. Invasive species are less likely to develop in habitats with intense inter-species competition over a long period of time, in undisturbed areas with high biodiversity, but also in areas with the lack of nutrients, light and water or in areas where these resources are being heavily exploited by local plant communities

Multiplicative version of Promethee method in assesment of parks in Novi Sad

Decision support methods have an important role regarding the envi­ronmental and landscape planning problems. In this research, one of the decision support methods - multiplicative version of Promethee - has been applied for assessment of five main parks in Novi Sad. The procedure required defining a set of criteria that were as follows: aesthetic, ecological and social values of analyzed parks. For each criterion an appropriate Promethee preference function was adopted with corresponding threshold values. The final result of the process was the ranking of parks by their aesthetic, ecological and social quality and importance for the City of Novi Sad. The result can help urban planners and responsible city bodies in their future actions aimed at improving development and management of analyzed parks. Two main directions of a future research were identified: (a) testing appli­cability of other decision support methods, along with Promethee, on the same problem and comparison of their results; and (b) analysis of the criteria set more closely by expanding it and/or including a set of indicators. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 174003: Theory and application of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in multi-criteria decision making under conditions of risk and uncertainty (individual and group context)

Evaluating natural monuments management objectives using SMART and SMARTER methods

This research presents the process of assessment of management objectives for natural monuments by applying two multi-criteria methods: SMART and SMARTER. For SMART application three decision makers performed the required assessments, while SMARTER results were gained by using the ranking of objectives. Namely, in both cases, the bases of the assessments were the management guidelines defined by the IUCN organization. In SMARTER analysis the ranking of objectives defined by the IUCN was the only input data, while SMART application included decision makers who assigned the points to each objective respecting the IUCN ranking. The obtained results represent the weights (cardinal values) of management objectives for natural monuments, which can be a convenient basis for further assessment and evaluation of management plans for this category of protected areas. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 174003: Theory and application of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in multi-criteria decision making under conditions of risk and uncertainty (individual and group context

Allocation of budget funds on agricultural loan programs: Group consensus decision making in the provincial fund for agricultural development of Vojvodina province in Serbia

This paper presents a novel approach that could be used for scientifically verified group decision making for the allocation of budget funds on agricultural loan programs in the Provincial Fund for Agricultural Development of Vojvodina Province in Serbia. An approach is structured based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process, a recognized multi-criteria method suitable for supporting both individual and group decision making processes. The decision makers' weights in a group are derived in an objective manner and based on demonstrated individual consistency while assessing and evaluating elements within the decision-making framework. A real life application is used to demonstrate how the four key decision-makers can individually evaluate and rank agricultural loan programs and how their decisions are afterwards compiled into the final consensus based group decision

Opportunities and Benefits of Green Balconies and Terraces in Urban Conditions

This study tested the hypothesis that a third dimension of urban gardening, in the form of green terraces and balconies, is of immense importance to the public well-being, mitigating climate changes and contributing to a more pleasant life in highly urbanized zones. By means of a concise questionnaire, a total of 82 respondents of different age groups (20-70 years of age) were surveyed about their opinion on green terraces, balconies, and roofs, i.e. the plants and flowers they incorporate. The fieldwork and survey responses facilitated the design of ten different spaces in various conditions. The results obtained enabled the selection of plants which could be used in given conditions, depending on wind, insolation, shade, ground levels, precipitation, etc. A total of three different terraces (out of ten) and three different balconies (out of ten) were enrolled in the study. The research results indicate that ten minutes of gardening could reduce stress levels and restore the positive energy of residents. An increase in the overall plant diversity exerts positive aesthetic and ecological effects. Inner-city areas are often sparsely vegetated, devoid of plants, and densely built-up, thus terraces and balconies have the potential to be retrofitted with suitable greenery

Аn example of different AHP structuring in a forest management problem

The paper investigates how different hierarchy structuring in analytic hierarchy process (AHP) may affect the final results in the decision-making process. This problem is analyzed in a case study of the Rila monastery forest stands in Bulgaria. There were three similar and mutually overlapped hierarchies defined. A decision maker evaluated all of them and after analyzing final results and consistency performance, he selected and revised the most appropriate hierarchy structure. Consistency check assisted in detecting the judgments which have strongly violated evaluation procedure. These mistakes are interpreted as a consequence of a large number of required pair-wise comparisons. The paper emphases the importance of properly defining hierarchy structure and recommends using consistency analysis as a guide and not as a directive for the revision of judgments. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 174003: Theory and application of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in multi-criteria decision making under conditions of risk and uncertainty (individual and group context