Towards constructing a Pareto front approximation for use in interactive forest management planning

Abstract

The selection of an appropriate multi-objective forest management plan can be a difficult task due to the vast number of alternatives available to the decision maker (DM). The complexity of the task depends e.g. on how clear the preferences of the DM are. For those DMs who do not have clear preferences, interactive methods of forest planning could assist in clarifying preferences and guiding the selection in an efficient fashion. Interactive planning methods are useful when the DM needs to consider a wide range of efficient solutions quickly. With large forest holdings or with complicated forest management goals, the development of new forest plans can become a rather computationally demanding task. The time taken to generate a new alternative limits the number of forest management plans the DM is able to or willing to consider prior to making a decision. To ease the computational demands and to limit the required waiting time, the aim of this study was to develop an approach which is able to approximate the Pareto front of the planning situation problem. The use of the approach allows the DM(s) to quickly consider new approximate solutions, which are representations of potential optimized solutions. A method called PAINT, which uses a predetermined number of Pareto optimal solutions to develop the approximation, was be used for this purpose. The suitability of the method for forest planning purposes was highlighted through the development of a Pareto front approximation for a large forest holding.