Abstract
This paper proposes a multi-criteria approach that accounts for the risk of fire when determining the optimal rotation of a forest stand that is being managed for both timber production and carbon sequestration purposes. The multi-criteria framework uses in a combined way, multi-objective optimization and compromise programming methods. The proposed approach is computationally simple and allows for the quantification of conflicts between the criteria considered through the elicitation of the corresponding Pareto frontiers. Once the best portion or compromise sets of the Pareto frontiers are determined, then some indications of the increase in social welfare due to a potential reduction in the risk of fire are obtained. We illustrate the use of our methodology by applying it to an example that has previously been investigated in the forestry literature. Finally, some potential policy implications derived from the results obtained are highlighted.
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Acknowledgments
A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the Workshop “Novas Tecnologias em Gestao Florestal Sustentable. A Gestão do Risco de Incendio e a Gestão da Cadeia de Valor (October 2010, Lisbon, Portugal).” The work of Luis Diaz-Balteiro and Carlos Romero was funded by the Autonomous Community of Madrid under projects Q100705066 and QM100705026 and by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science under project AGL2011-25825. David Martell’s contribution was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Andrés Weintraub was supported by grants from Milenium Institute Complex Engineering Systems and Fondecyt 1100265. Partial support for this research was provided by ForEAdapt project and funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IRSES) under grant agreement no PIRSES-GA-763 2010-269257. Thanks are also given to the referees for their useful comments.
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Diaz-Balteiro, L., Martell, D.L., Romero, C. et al. The optimal rotation of a flammable forest stand when both carbon sequestration and timber are valued: a multi-criteria approach. Nat Hazards 72, 375–387 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-1013-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-1013-3