Plants Species Selection for Afforestation: A Case Study of the Billion Tree Tsunami Project of Pakistan

ABSTRACT

Afforestation is one potential action for improving the environment from local to global scales. Deforestation plagues many regions of the world and in recent times, there are ongoing efforts by some countries to expand afforestation programs. One key decision in the design of afforestation programs is species selection. Here, we demonstrate species selection for afforestation using two different multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques. The study covers two regions within the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and is based on their ongoing project, the Billion Tree Tsunami. We considered six criteria for decision making. These criteria included cost, reproducibility, growth rate, environmental compatibility (including soil compatibility, temperature, rainfall requirements), environmental effects (including transpiration rate, evergreen or not, soil erosion control) and uses (medical, constructional and fodder). The results of both MCDM methods were comparable, suggesting that our findings are acceptable and consistent. The study is useful for the forestry department at local and international levels. Additionally, it is informative for researchers and readers with an interest in the application of MCDM in forestry.

KEYWORDS:

• MCDM
• TOPSIS
• AHP
• afforestation
• tree-choice

Acknowledgments

The author appreciates the editor Prof. Uromi Manage Goodale, and the associate editor Dr. Jacob Bukoski whose feedback and suggestions improved this work a lot. The authors would also like to take this opportunity to thank their respective organizations for providing opportunities to undertake this research.

Notes

¹ During 2011, the Government of Germany and IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature) initiated the Bonn Challenge, which is a program to bring 150 million hectares of land under forest by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030 (IUCN, 2011).

Additional information

Funding

No funding or sponsorship was used in conducting this research.