Sustainable development of reforestation using goal programing and fuzzy- AHP

The purpose of this study was to investigate reforestation projects based on the principles of sustainable development in the Darabkola watershed in Mazandaran province. Therefore, a goal programming model was used for the consideration of multiple goals. A fuzzy hierarchical process was used to compute the weights of different criteria. The criteria and indicators were determined according to principles of the sustainable development, including those related to economy, environment, production, biodiversity conservation, forest health, and forest cover (e.g., various indicators such as net present value, carbon balance, annual increment of diameter, stem biomass, basal area, diameter variation, mass stability, and ecological productivity). The tree species comprised Acer velutinum, A. cappadocicum, Fraxinus excelsior, Juglans regia, Quercus castaneifolia, Alnus subcordata and Pinus brutia. The results of goal programming model showed that the areas of afforestation with different species were changed compared to the ecological capability assessments. The results showed a zero ha potential for maple, which was initially defined 590.197 ha based on the assessment of ecological potential. In addition, the results revealed 120.17 ha increase (547 vs. 667.21) for F. excelsior, 470.02 ha increase (535.96 vs. 1005.99) for A. cappadocicum and 89.72 ha reduce (416.30 vs. 326.57) for Quercus castaneifolia. The reforested area was unchanged for the other species such as J. regia, A. subcordata and P. brutia. Therefore, a total area of 3091.01 ha was suggested for the afforestation according to the results of goal programming model.