Forest road network planning based on environmental, technical and economical considerations using GIS and AHP (Case study: Baharbon district in Kheyroud forest)

The goal of this study is presenting a proper method to improve the planning of forest roads network based on environmental, technical and economical considerations using GIS (Geographical Information System) and AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process). Six different variants regarding to technical principles of roads network were designed using Pegger (an extension of ArcView software). Inner levels of layers were evaluated and ranked to get a proper environmental evaluation. The parameters were compared in pair-wise comparison in the context of AHP to develop map layers weights. Then weights, factors and constraints were entered to multi criteria evaluation (MCE) module to create final suitability map. All variants were evaluated from a technical stand of view in GIS using Backmond and Segebaden methods. In addition to six variants, in every 3 evaluation, we evaluate exiting plan in the study area as seventh variant. With review the result of environmental and technical evaluations of 7 variants, the variant with lowest total value in MCE with regard to technical principals was determined. This variant was evaluated economically, and then was checked by field reconnaissance. The obtained results showed that using GIS and AHP will improve planning methods.