Application of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) in assessment of de-desertification alternatives Case study: Khezrabad region, Yazd province

With respect to importance of desertification issue and complication of this phenomenon because of interaction of different and numerous variables during the time, paying effective attention to the optimum alternatives is vital for prevention of de-desertification or rehabilitation and improvement of degradation lands so the loss of limited capitals are prevented and efficiency of control and rehabilitation projects is enhanced. Study of research sources showed that unfortunately proposed alternatives are superficial and there are not any precedence in application of systematic methods such as Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) for desertification issues. Therefore in this research AHP method has been used for offering the optimal alternatives for de-desertification. In this study the opinion of experts about alternatives and criteria were assessed by using Delphi method and Pirewise comparison and with application of EC software. Then final preference for the alternatives was obtained with synthesis and integration of the results. The ability of the model was assessed for offering de-desertification alternatives in Khezrabad region in Yazd province. On the basis of obtained results unsuitable land use alternative with weighted average of %22.9, vegetation cover development and reclamation with weighted average of %21.8 and modification of groundwater harvesting with weighted average of %19.1 were determined as the optimum de-desertification alternatives in the study area.