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AVVIRK-2000 +	AVVIRK-2000 is a deterministic simulation model, with no elements of optimization or stochasticity built in. The simulation system comprises two phases: 1) Simulations are made for each individual stand, and 2) the potential harvest at the forest level (i.e. the union of all stands) is calculated. In this second phase, in case of existence of harvest constraints an iterative tool operating heuristics should be used, in order to achieve a few, but satisfactory solutions. Harvest constraints allowed are: • a non-declining harvest path or net income path for the period of 100 years, • a user-given harvest level or net income level for any number of 10-year periods up to 10, • a harvest path according to user-given final harvest ages for all stands, or • a harvest path according to removal of stands with relative annual value increment lower than a user-given percentage. Until now, the model has only taken into account timber production considerations. Since environmentally orientated pra  +
Agflor +	It is a tool to help access the impacts of policy changes on regional land use patterns. It was used by Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture Regional Office of Alentejo (DRAPAL) to assess the impacts of common agricultural policy changes on agricultural and forestry activities on regional land use patterns over an area extending over 2 million hectares.  +
Austria-Improving forestry extension services for small-scale private landowners +	The analysis and selection of silvicultural treatment alternatives for Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) karst.) stands in southern Austria is supported. The DSS supports the forest resource management consultation process with forest landowners in order to evaluate silvicultural approaches to stand management in the project area and conversion programs.  +
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BFH-HAFL +	The HAFL offers three Bachelor degree programmes that are unique in Switzerland: Agriculture, Forestry and Food Technology. This offering has been completed with the Life Sciences Master's degree programme in Applied Agricultural and Forestry Sciences. Through its research, HAFL develops solutions to meet the challenges of the agricultural, forest and food industries. The research projects are largely practical (‘on-site research’), which allows the context and complex operational interrelationships to be analysed. Partners and stakeholders are directly involved in the project, and the results are intentionally communicated to a broad audience and with an orientation towards application. The end product is not only publication in scientific journals, but also practical, action-oriented recommendations and resources.  +
BOKU +	The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, known by its acronym BOKU, was 132 years old in 2004. It is a university that offers engineering degrees, both graduate and postgraduate, in the fields of agriculture, forestry and timber management, civil engineering and water management (including waste management), food science and biotechnology, and landscape architecture and conservation. Emphasis is placed on technology, economics and ecology. All fields of study consider environmental aspects and the protection of natural resources, with sustainability as a key element of the corporate goal, defined as: BOKU sees itself as a teaching and research institution focusing on living resources that are a prerequisite for human existance. Supported by the broad scope of its scientific disciplines, it has a responsibility to make a decisive contribution to securing the well-being of future generations.  +
Belgium-BoLa a specific sDSS to support land use planning in Flanders +	The specific spatial decision support system BoLa (a Dutch language acronym for ‘Evaluation for Soils and Land use types’)was generated by means of OSMOSE to support land use planning in the region of Flanders (in Belgium) focusing on soil protection. The generation process consisted of collecting and pre-processing the data required to define the land units and to compute their corresponding ecosystem service attribute values under current and fictitious climate scenarios, and populating the OSMOSE-database with them. The user interface, the viewing and analysis module and the advanced query module as provided by OSMOSE were not modified. The land units are the fundamental entities in the alphanumeric database, which is reflected by the fact that since all other entities are linked to land units. In BoLa, land units are defined by two land characteristics; i.e. initial land use type and soil association. For each of these land units the corresponding values are defined for the following ecosystem service attributes: (1) the soil suitability, (2) buffering capacity, (3) soil organic carbon stock, (4) susceptibility to soil compaction, (5) soil loss due to water- and cultivation erosion and (6) soil loss due to wind erosion. These attributes are used as the decision (or optimisation) criteria. BoLa allows to perform land evaluation based on an absolute approach. This means that land quality or ES-levels are confronted with predefined requirements to classify land units through a threshold selection method. In this way, land units can be classified as recommendable or not recommendable for a given LUT, or alternatively, for a given land unit a distinction can be made between recommendable and not recommendable LUTs. On the other hand BoLa can perform land evaluation based on a relative approach. This approach leads to a further ranking of the selected land units or land use types.  +
Belgium-Participative modelling of long-term wood production in the forest complex ‘Bosland’ +	Bosland is a 4241ha publicly owned forest area in north-eastern Flanders, situated on sandy soils. Main tree species are Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Corsican pine (Pinus nigra Arnold ssp laricio var corsicana), together accounting for 80% of the forest area and 94% of the standing stock in 2010. Current management plans aim at ad hoc conversion of pine towards other species, but lack insight into the effects on future wood provision in the area. The Aim of the study was to develop a long-term view on species composition and wood production in Bosland, based on objective comparison of management alternatives in a participatory setting. This was done by executing a scenario analysis with the first version of decision support system ‘Sim4Tree’. Sim4Tree is a software for the projection of timber harvest and future standing stock based on forest inventory data and user-defined management choices. Site, forest composition and management are defined for homogeneous 1ha pixels, but grouping of pixels in stands or larger areas with uniform management is possible. Predictions are based on standard yield tables for the region. Sim4Tree is not fully operational yet and only available as a prototype. It was applied here to 3189 ha productive forest in Bosland, i.e. excluding forest area with nature conservation goals. A total of 36 management scenarios were defined, combining multiple options on (1) species choice based on site suitability, (2) relative distribution over main and other species and (3) timing of conversion relative to species rotation. Sim4Tree output for each scenario included species-specific projections until 2070 for standing stock, harvest, diameter distribution, share of old trees, constant timber flow, and other derived variables. Optimal scenarios were selected through participatory approach. After a first selection of acceptable scenarios according to the current legal framework in Flanders, a multi-criteria decision analysis (AHP) and sensitivity analysis (SMAA) were performed. Results were presented and fine-tuned at different stakeholder meetings, with representatives from the forest management, the municipalities, the wood trading and processing industry and local interest groups. A final top-3 of scenarios was discussed in detail and presented in a voting procedure to all stakeholders, resulting in a final choice. The final scenario aims at a broad diversification of tree species in the Bosland area, which has documented ecological and economic advantages. However, as this can only be achieved by using species with sub-optimal site productivity, this results in a decrease of standing stock and timber harvest up to 15%. Financial consequences were similar for all scenarios, predicting a decreased income. This is mainly due to the conversion of Corsican pine, but to some extent compensated by higher consideration of Douglas and Larch. The huge increase of birch area urges for new management and marketing approaches. The final scenario is now being translated into harvesting and regeneration directives for individual stands. A first evaluation is due within 5 years.  +
Brazil-DSS usage at a company combining both short rotation plantations and natural forest management in their operation +	An in-depth interview of forest management planners of the use of DSS in their daily work; aspects of including which planning tasks they use DSS or not, and why. Focus on a company that combines both short rotation plantations and management of natural forests in its operation.  +
Brazil-DSS usage on short rotation eucalyptus pulp wood plantations +	An in-depth interview of forest management planners of the use of DSS in their daily work; aspects of including which planning tasks they use DSS or not, and why. Focus on companies managing short rotation pulp wood plantations.  +
Brazil-DSS usage on sustainable natural forest management in the Amazon basin +	An in-depth interview of forest management planners of the use of DSS in their daily work; aspects of including which planning tasks they use DSS or not, and why. Focus on companies dealing with low impact harvesting in the natural forests of Amazon basin.  +
Brazil-DSS usage on teak plantation +	An in-depth interview of forest management planners of the use of DSS in their daily work; aspects of including which planning tasks they use DSS or not, and why. Focus on a company having teak plantations.  +
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CONES +	The greater part of the forested area of the Austrian Federal Forests Company (ÖBf-AG) is located in mountainous regions, which forces forest managers to find optimal solutions between silviculture and forest engineering. Selection of the optimal management strategy is quite a challenge for the people involved in the decision-finding process (forest taxator, forester, forest engineer), given the complexity of the problems that arise when considering the two fields together (spatial relation, time horizon of measures, accomplishing multiple goals, stand and site factors). Possibilities of assessing the consequences of a given extraction strategy in advance are fairly limited. This bears the risk that because of the complexity of the decision-finding process only sub-optimal solutions are chosen. Therefore a practicable and easy to use spatial decision support system (SDSS) was developed for the people invnvolved in the decision making process at the ÖBf-AG.  +
Capsis +	Capsis is a software platform which purpose is to host forestry growth and yield / dynamics models. It can help run various silvicultural scenarios by combining a given growth model with silvicultural treatments. It was built by french researchers (INRA, France) for forest research (hypotheses testing, model evaluation), transfert to forest managers (particularly french ONF) and educational purposes.  +
ClimChAlp +	ClimChAlp focuses on the question of suitable stand treatment programmes for currently existing Norway spruce stands given a particular set of management objectives (represented by a set of indicators focusing on timber production, ecophysiological tree suitability, timber yield, harvesting and silvicultural costs, carbon sequestration, biodiversity and groundwater recharge). The tool is particularly designed to support the consultation process of the forestry extension services for small-scale private landowners. The staff of the forestry extension services has a key role in knowledge transfer to small scale owners who often do not have any professional background in forestry. Therefore, the DSS was supposed to (a) inform the extension foresters about potential impacts of climate change on Norway spruce forests and provide them with information on alternative stand treatment options; and (b) to assist them by various means of visualization to support the consultation session.  +
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EFIMOD +	EFIMOD is a tool to forecast carbon and nitrogen flows in forest ecosystems with strong feedback mechanism between soil and stand. It allows for description and spatial analysis of mixed stand dynamics in boreal and temperate forests at different management and external impacts.  +
EFISCEN +	EFISCEN is a forest resource projection model. It is used to gain insight into the future development of European forests for issues such as: sustainable management regimes; wood production possibilities; nature oriented management; climate change impacts natural disturbances; and carbon balance issues. Through its underlying detailed forest inventory database, the projections provide these insights at varying scales, thus serving forest managers and policy makers at the national and international levels. Since 1996, EFISCEN has been jointly developed and applied at Alterra and EFI.  +
EMDS +	The system provides decision support for landscape-level analyses through logic and decision engines integrated with the ArcGIS geographic information system. The NetWeaver logic engine evaluates landscape data against a formal logic specification designed in the NetWeaver Developer system, to derive logic-based interpretations of ecosystem conditions. The decision engine evaluates NetWeaver outcomes, and data related to the feasibility and efficacy of land management actions, against a decision model for prioritizing landscape features built with its development system, Criterium DecisionPlus. CDP models implement the analytical hierarchy process, the simple multi-attribute rating technique, or a combination of the two methods. The system has been used in a high variety of applications.  +
ESC +	ESC is a PC-based DSS software can be accessed via a web browser, that supports a methodology for the evaluation of the suitability of different tree species and woodland communities as defined in the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) for Great Britain, predicting yield in the form of a site index, on the UK forest land and also future climate analysis . This tool encourages the decision makers on the election of a suitable forest species according to their site soil properties and climatic data, instead of selecting an inadequate species and then trying to modify site characteristics to make it more suitable. It also provides the suitability of the species according to the expected evolution of the climate, and predicts the potential yield in the form of a site index. The number of tree species considered is 25, and there are also 20 native woodland types.  +
ETÇAP +	ETÇAP is an ecosystem based multiple use forest management planning software that allows to evaluate the current state of a forest ecosystem (forest inventory compilation, develop management strategies with a number of management objectives and constraints, projects future forest development with various Operation Research Techniques and prepares and lays out a management plan based on management guidelines Support for specific issues; Harvest scheduling, timber production, yield prediction,biodiversity conservation, and landscape quality. Support for specific thematic areas of a problem type Silvicultural Prescription Conservation Development choices / land use zoning Policy/intervention alternatives  +
EcologicalSiteClassification +	ESC is a PC-based DSS that supports a methodology for the evaluation of the suitability of different tree species and woodland communities as defined in the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) for Great Britain, and also predicting yield in the form of a site index, on the UK forest land. This tool encourages the decision makers on the election of a suitable forest species according to their site soil properties and climatic data, instead of selecting an inadequate species and then trying to modify site characteristics to make it more suitable. It also provides the suitability of the species according to the expected evolution of the climate, and predicts the potential yield in the form of a site index. The number of tree species considered is 25, and there are also 20 native woodland types. The site information is linked to ESC suitability models for 20 of the 25 NVC woodland communities (W1-W20) and 25 species of tree using a 'fuzzy membership function' approach. The fuzzy mem  +
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FMPP +	he Forest Management Planning Package it is an existing planning system used in practical forestry in Sweden. It focuses on the economically effective resource management of forest timber. The FMPP integrates economic theory, objective inventory measurements, growth forecasts and optimization methods. It is essentially aimed at long term (strategic) planning of larger forest holdings. The planning problem can be formulated and solved in two ways. (1) A non-linear objective function and mathematical optimization result in a compromise between maximization of economics benefits (Net Present Value) and a sustainable development (sustained net-revenue profile). (2) A linear programming package, JLP, is utilized to maximize Net Present Value under some preselected restrictions.  +
FORFUN +	FORFUN (FORest FUNctions) is a computerized tool designed to assign a score to the functions of the forest in a given forest compartment, ranking them in order of importance. To this end a multicriteria algorithm is employed using two criteria: site suitability and stand aptitude for the given functions. For each criterion and for each function a group of indicators represented as GIS layers was chosen. The two criteria can be attributed roughly the same weight as assessed by the planner. The result can be corrected with a coefficient expressing the relative importance assigned to each function by the stakeholders through questionnaires whose outcome are processed by a Saaty matrix.  +
FVS +	The Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) is a family of forest growth simulation models. The basic FVS model structure has been calibrated to unique geographic areas to produce individual FVS variants. Since its initial development in 1973, it has become a system of highly integrated analytical tools. These tools are based upon a body of scientific knowledge developed from decades of natural resources research.  +
Finland-Strategic planning at the national forest administration +	General case description Natural resources planning in Metsähallitus defines the strategic level decisions concerning seven large sub-areas: Kainuu, Eastern Lappland, Western Lappland, Upper Lapland, Western Finland, Eastern Finland and Ostrobothnia (1). The planning started in 1.4.1995 from Kainuu region, and 2002 a new round was started. The latest planning process was carried out in Eastern Finland. These plans cover the whole area of state forests governed by Metsähallitus, i.e. about 9 million hectares. The goal is to reconcile the possibilities offered by natural resources with the needs of different parties to form an effective whole. Different forms of use of state lands are, among others, nature conservation, forestry, recreation, eco-tourism, real estate development and the sale of soil resources. Particularly, economic, ecological and social sustainability is aimed for. Each plan is made for a ten-year period, and it is checked after 5 years. Metsähallitus is carrying out the planning as a participatory process. The process is organized in the form of several working groups. They give their recommendation as to the plans, but Metsähallitus is the decision maker in the process. In addition, the Finnish government guides the decisions. Before the participatory planning mode was started, Metsähallitus had several conflicts with reindeer herders, environmentalists and in some cases also local inhabitants. Currently, there are no on-going conflicts between Metsähallitus and any stakeholder group. Organization The initiative for the participatory planning came from Metsähallitus. Identifying the stakeholders In the first process, the process lasted from spring 1995 to the end of November 1996. In the beginning around 400 potential stakeholder groups were notified of the process. Around 10 meetings were arranged, and 60 stakeholder groups were involved. The work was organized to eight regional working groups and one local working group. The regional working groups represented agriculture and forestry, provincial administration, tourism, forest industry, small enterprises,game husbandry, research and nature conservation. In addition, 600 members of general public gave 1600 statements (Pykäläinen et al. 1999). In the latest process of Eastern Finland, the work was carried out in one working group of 21 members. The members of that group represented the main stakeholder groups of Metsähallitus (governmental and non-governmental environmental organizations, education, industry, recreation, personnel of Metsähallitus, municipalities). The group had 6 meetings from April 1007 until February 2008. In addition, seven meetings for general public were arranged, and altogether 133 persons were involved. Role of the stakeholders According to current guidelines, the chair person is elected among the representatives of the working group or an independent facilitating chair person is made available for the working group. The chair person must be unanimously approved by the working group. The meetings are arranged in neutral premises, not in the offices of Metsähallitus. The working group makes recommendations to Metsähallitus. Based on the recommendations, Metsähallitus makes the decisions and in certain statutory issues conveys the recommendations to the decision making by the Finnish Parliament, e.g. in case of changed land-use allocations. Such decisions are beyond the mandate of Metsähallitus. All NRP’s are confirmed (final approval and decision) by the Board of Metsähallitus.(2) Problem structuring In the first process in Kainuu 1995, four main points of view (FPS`s business revenues in Kainuu, nature conservation, socioeconomic values and recreation) were taken as the basis of the process. Each of them were measured with several criteria and indicators. The indicators were required to be numerical and their development to be predictable. Four basic alternatives were formulated: one representing the current land use decisions, one promoting nature conservation, one promoting recreation and one promoting economic aspects. Later on, two new alternatives were included after the state decisions concerning old growth forest conservation areas. In the Eastern Finland process, the working group in their first meeting discussed about their dreams about the state forest uses and about the process itself. In the second meeting, the goals were set that would enhance achieving those dreams. In the third meeting the group discussed about the possible future alternatives, and the suitable criteria and indicators to describe them. The role of stakeholder groups in the problem structuring has increased from the first processes. Intelligence Stakeholders At the starting point of each of the processes invitations are sent to all possible stakeholder groups. The working group is formed in the first meeting. In order to keep the number of participants reasonable, the stakeholder groups are classified into interest groups, and each of them selects their regional representative to the working group. Every representative in the working group has also a deputy member who receives all the same information as the main representative. In some case, a national level representative may be selected, or some interest group can have more than one representatives. These exceptions are possible if all other groups agree.(3) Objectives In the last processes, the general approach has been to involve four different viewpoints and two-three numerical criteria for each of them. These have been selected during the discussion with the stakeholders. In Eastern Finland, the criteria and indicators were: 1) Nature conservation The area of ecological network (1000 ha) The proportion of rich sites conserved (%) The width of forests bordering lakes and rivers (m) 2) Economic The annual harvested volume (1000 cubic meters) Total net income from forestry and other commercial activities (million euros) 3) Recreation and tourism The area of forests suitable for recreation and tourism (1000 ha) The lake and rives shores in everyman use (km) 4) Regional economy The cost budget of Metsähallitus (million euros) Metsähallitus employment (person years) In other regions, the process has been quite similar, but the criteria and indicators have changed somewhat. For instance, in Kainuu new process the criteria and indicators were (Hiltunen et al. 2008): 1) Biodiversity Area of the ecological network, 1000 ha Quality of the network, school grade given by specialists 2) Economy Total net income from forestry and other commercial activities, mill. € per year Sustainable (allowable) annual cut, 1000 m3 per year 3) Recreation and tourism Area of forests older than 80 years (hiking etc.), 1000 ha Area of forests younger than 20 years (game such as moose and hares), 1000 ha 4) Social impacts Metsähallitus employment, person years Gross turnover, € mill Preferences In different processes, different methods have been employed. In the first process, AHP (HIPRE software (4) was applied. It requires giving weight to different criteria. After that, different voting methods such as Borda count and approval voting have been utilized. These have often been combined with more sophisticated methods such as utility functions (Pykäläinen et al. 2007). In the last processes, MESTA software has been used. ((5)) It requires setting minimum acceptance borders for each criterion. Information The information used in the analysis is mostly basic forest inventory data. In addition, expert opinions concerning some criteria, like employment, are utilised. Design Alternatives The alternatives are formulated after the discussion with stakeholders in the working group. It is recommended that at least the basic alternative (using current principles of land use), and alternatives increasing and decreasing the level of nature conservation, and alternatives weighting recreation are formulated. The alternatives are formulated using forest DSS, such as MELA system Choice Usage of DSS In choice phase, the same tools are used as in preference elicitation. Typically, the working group first ranks the criteria from most important to least important. In the next phase, each participant gives the weights or acceptance borders for the criteria in an hands-on experiment. Each participant can work on them interactively. Later on, the group discusses about them, and tries to find an acceptable compromise solution. Thus, the MCDA methods are used as tools to explore the options, but the best alternative is selected after discussions. Monitoring The success of the plans are monitored after the first five years in a new participatory planning process. The checking process is, however, lighter than the original planning process, with only a couple of organized meetings. The process is evaluated based on the monitoring indicators agreed upon, and all the available information, including information on the working environment. Based on this process, it is decided if the plan is still valid, of it it needs to be changed. In the latter case, the plan is re-formulated according to the needs. The participation process in itself is not monitored.  +
ForMIS +	Forest Modelling Information System  +

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