Kyle Eyvindson

Mixing methods – assessment of potential benefits for natural resources planning

Multi-objective forest planning is a multi-methodological endeavor whose success largely depends on how well the combined use of different methods contributes to the goals of the planning. This review assessed the benefits of mixing methods in natural resources planning. A sample of 30 peer-reviewed research articles was analyzed using an evaluation framework, designed based on democracy and planning theories, and participatory planning literature, including four dimensions: transparency, flexibility, consensus building, and operability. According to analyses, mixing different types (i.e. qualitative and quantitative) of methods generally yields greater benefits than the combination of similar methods. The subsample of 12 planning cases that utilized simulation-optimization software (SOS) appeared operable and moderately transparent, whereas flexibility and consensus building were often lacking. In comparison to the wide scholarly discussion on multi-methodology and mixing methods, it was observed that successful mixing examples in natural resource planning are still scarce and there are weaknesses in bridging the methods together. There is an evident need to pursue and to better communicate the benefits of mixing. Some good mixing examples utilizing SOS provided evidence that forest planning processes would make an excellent venue for studying the benefits and caveats of using mixed methods.

An Internet-Supported Planning Approach for Joint Ownership Forest Holdings

This article proposes a planning approach for private forest holdings that have more than one decision maker, e.g. a heirship group or a joint ownership between siblings. Through a case study example, we illustrate the phases of the proposed planning process and describe the communication and planning tools used in this process. The final aim is that in the future the forest planners’ toolkit would include this kind of approach for rather common situations where it is not easy to reach all the owners for synchronous face-to-face planning sessions. The process started with initial telephone interviews with the forest owners. From these interviews appropriate alternative forest plans were developed. Indicators and their values from the forest plans were inputted into the Mesta internet application. The forest owners were also given guidance on how to use the program. After this they were given time to independently use the program. Once the forest owners finished the use of the program, the results were collected and analyzed. Among the alternative forest plans, one was approved by all of the forest owners. The results of trial use involving a North-Karelian forest holding were encouraging. The main benefits of the approach according to the participants were learning that there are alternatives between which to choose, and reaching a common base level of understanding holding’s production possibilities for future decisions. After developing the process and technical tools further, the proposed model could serve joint ownerships over distance also in practice and in larger scale, and, as a result, foster owners’ engagement on their own forest.

Integrating risk preferences in forest harvest scheduling

Key messageThrough a stochastic programming framework, risk preferences can be included in forest planning. The value of utilizing stochastic programming is always positive; however, the value depends on the information quality and risk preferences of the decision maker.ContextHarvest scheduling requires decisions be taken based on imperfect information and assumptions regarding the future state of the forest and markets.AimsThe aim of this study is to incorporate elements of risk management into forest management, so that the decision maker can understand the risks associated with utilizing the imperfect data.MethodsIncorporation of uncertainty is done through stochastic programming. This allows for the decision maker’s attitude towards risk to be incorporated into the development of a solution. By means of a simple even-flow problem formulation, a method of using stochastic programming to incorporate explicit trade-off between objective function value and risk of not meeting the constraints has been developed.ResultsThe different models highlight the importance of including uncertainty in management of forest resources. In general, as the decision maker becomes more risk averse, the incorporation of uncertainty into the model becomes more important.ConclusionsThe use of stochastic programming allows for additional information to be included in the formulation, and this allows for the decision maker to account for downside risk.

Data-Based Forest Management with Uncertainties and Multiple Objectives

In this paper, we present an approach of employing multiobjective optimization to support decision making in forest management planning. The planning is based on data representing so-called stands, each consisting of homogeneous parts of the forest, and simulations of how the trees grow in the stands under different treatment options. Forest planning concerns future decisions to be made that include uncertainty. We employ as objective functions both the expected values of incomes and biodiversity as well as the value at risk for both of these objectives. In addition, we minimize the risk level for both the income value and the biodiversity value. There is a tradeoff between the expected value and the value at risk, as well as between the value at risk of the two objectives of interest and, thus, decision support is needed to find the best balance between the conflicting objectives. We employ an interactive method where a decision maker iteratively provides preference information to find the most preferred management plan and at the same time learns about the interdependencies of the objectives.

Forest Management Planning

Forest management planning is a rather unique planning situation. In this chapter, we describe the special features of forest planning. Forest owners and managers need to take decisions which can deal with a variety of spatial and temporal scales, from one stand and short time period up to the national level and very long time horizons. Forest management decisions also have an impact on many ecosystem services. Therefore, decision-making must be able to ensure the economic, ecological and social sustainability of forestry. In this chapter, we present a historical outline of developing a methodology for forest planning and the evolving definitions of sustainable forestry. Moreover, we present the requirements that the contemporary understanding of sustainable forest management sets to the development of forest planning methodology.

Determining the appropriate timing of the next forest inventory: incorporating forest owner risk preferences and the uncertainty of forest data quality

Key messageThe timing to conduct new forest inventories should be based on the requirements of the decision maker. Importance should be placed on the objectives of the decision maker and his/her risk preferences related to those objectives.ContextThe appropriate use of pertinent and available information is paramount in any decision-making process. Within forestry, a new forest inventory is typically conducted prior to creating a forest management plan. The acquisition of new forest inventory data is justified by the simple statement of “good decisions require good data.”AimsBy integrating potential risk preferences, we examine the specific needs to collect new forest information.MethodsThrough a two-stage stochastic programming with recourse model, we evaluate the specific timing to conduct a holding level forest inventory. A Monte Carlo simulation was used to integrate both inventory and growth model errors, resulting in a large number of potential scenarios process to be used as data for the stochastic program. To allow for recourse, an algorithm to sort the simulations to represent possible updated forest inventories, using the same data was developed.ResultsRisk neutral decision makers should delay obtaining new forest information when compared to risk averse decision makers.ConclusionNew inventory data may only need to be collected rather infrequently; however, the exact timing depends on the forest owner’s objectives and risk preferences.

Solving Conflicts among Conservation, Economic, and Social Objectives in Boreal Production Forest Landscapes: Fennoscandian Perspectives

This chapter discusses challenges and possibilities involved in preserving biological diversity and the diversity of ecosystem services in the boreal zone and yet at the same time maintaining intensive timber extraction in boreal forests. Our focus is on Fennoscandian forests at the landscapes level, and we consider economic, social, and ecological in the sustainability of forest management. We provide an outlook to boreal forest ecosystems and their history and an overview of the forestry practices and policies that aim to ensure multifunctionality of Fennoscandian forests, i.e., diversity of efforts on sustaining biodiversity, timber production, and other ecosystem services from forest landscapes. We review the current scientific understanding management effects on the structure and dynamics of the forest at different spatial, and the consequent repercussions on forest biodiversity and ecosystem services. Evidence suggests that many ecosystem services and biodiversity are in conflict with intensive timber production in boreal forests. We therefore present methods for assessing conflicts among alternative forest uses and for finding solutions for conflicts. We conclude the chapter by providing insights for future management aiming at sustainability from economic, ecological, and social perspectives.

Errors in the Short-Term Forest Resource Information Update

Currently the forest sector in Finland is looking towards the next generation’s forest resource information systems. Information used in forest planning is currently collected by using an area-based approach (ABA) where airborne laser scanning (ALS) data are used to generalize field-measured inventory attributes over an entire inventory area. Inventories are typically updated at 10-year interval. Thus, one of the key challenges is the age of the inventory information and the cost-benefit trade-off between using the old data and obtaining new data. Prediction of future forest resource information is possible through growth modelling. In this paper, the error sources related to ALS-based forest inventory and the growth models applied in forest planning to update the forest resource information were examined. The error sources included (i) forest inventory, (ii) generation of theoretical stem distribution, and (iii) growth modelling. Error sources (ii) and (iii) stem from the calculations used for forest planning, and were combined in the investigations. Our research area, Evo, is located in southern Finland. In all, 34 forest sample plots (300 m2) have been measured twice tree-by-tree. First measurements have been carried out in 2007 and the second measurements in 2014 which leads to 7 year updating period. Respectively, ALS-based forest inventory data were available for 2007. The results showed that prediction of theoretical stem distribution and forest growth modelling affected only slightly to the quality of the predicted stem volume in short-term information update when compared to forest inventory error.

Landowner preferences and conservation prioritization: response to Nielsen et al

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Group Decision-Making and Participatory Planning

The use of public participation has become common in many forest management planning situations. In this chapter, we define the concepts of participatory planning and group decision-making, as well as stakeholder and decision-maker. We describe the purposes and potential benefits of participatory planning, for the participating stakeholders and for the organisations applying the approach in their planning processes. We present the definitions for different levels of participation and discuss how a suitable participation process for different types of planning cases could be designed. We discuss the importance of facilitation and describe different facilitator roles in supporting group decision-making. We also present criteria that may be used to measure the success of participation.