Routledge Using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis in Natural Resource Management (Ashgate Studies in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics)

Product Description Providing useful insights on the use of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) in natural resource management, this book examines a number of empirical applications for several countries and a variety of natural resources. It is shown that using MCDA in the management of water, forestry, wetland and other natural resources can substantially improve the design and implementation of natural resource and environmental policies. Stakeholder involvement is also an important determinant of successful resource management and MCDA provides a useful and effective framework for getting stakeholders involved in resource management decisions. Using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis in Natural Resource Management gives in-depth analysis of the potential problems in applying these techniques, including difficulties eliciting required information, lack of suitable measures for environmental variables and the need to develop innovative methods to simplify the use of MCDA. Review 'Those involved in natural resource dilemmas will find this book of great interest. It serves both practitioners who want to mitigate resource dilemmas and students who want to learn techniques of multi-criteria decision analysis as applied to natural resources. The book is particularly useful because it covers a variety of different techniques as well as a variety of natural resource applications (forestry, water management, energy management, park management, etc.). Cases from a multiplicity of countries make this a book even more interesting and useful.' Edna Loehman, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA 'The various well-written and clearly structured case studies presented in this book show that Multi-Criteria Decision can be a useful tool to assess natural resource management strategies...This book will be of special interest to practitioners as well as students and researchers in the field of natural resource management.' Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture About the Author Gamini Herath is Associate Professor of Economics at Deakin University, Australia. Tony Prato is Professor of Ecological Economics at the University of Missouri-Columbia, USA.