Multi-criteria decision analysis in natural resource management: A critical review of methods and new modelling paradigms

Abstract

Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is an umbrella approach that has been applied to a wide range of natural resource management situations. This paper has two purposes. First, it aims to provide a critical review of MCDA methods applied to forest and other natural resource management. The review seeks to layout the nature of the models, their inherent strengths and limitations. Models are categorized based on different classification schemes and are reviewed by describing their general characteristics, approaches, and fundamental properties. The review goes beyond traditional MCDA techniques; it describes new modelling approaches to forest management. The second purpose is to describe new MCDA paradigms aimed at addressing the inherent complexity of managing forest ecosystems, particularly with respect to multiple criteria, multi-stakeholders, and lack of information. Comments about, and critical analysis of, the limitations of traditional models are made to point out the need for, and propose a call to, a new way of thinking about MCDA as they are applied to forest and natural resource management planning. These new perspectives do not undermine the value of traditional methods; rather they point to a shift in emphasis—from methods for problem solving to methods for problem structuring.