Multicriteria evaluation of forestry development by regions (by the example of Ukraine)

The investigation aims at elaboration and practical application of multicriteria evaluation methodology to compare the forestry development levels in the context of regions based on index method. Elaborated methodology provides 5 assessment criteria: intensity of forest reproduction and regeneration, profitability of logging, forestry financial return, forestry protection and security level, and legislation observance. Three main indices were selected to ensure evaluation proportionality. The individual indices of each indicator by regions are calculated and the group integral indices by each criterion along with the reconciled integral index by all groups of criteria are defined. Application of this methodology by the example of Ukrainian forestry allowed conducting ranking and grouping of regions by indicators of integral indices for certain years and the period of 2011−2013. The diagrammed map is plotted to demonstrate the results visually. It revealed that certain highly forested regions did not ensure appropriate forestry development level as individual steppe zone regions. Elaborated methodology can be used for analogical evaluation of forestry development for other countries and their regions or for a set of countries in a certain territory.