Analysis and identification of strategic management of forest roads in northern watersheds using SWOT-AHP approaches

Introduction and Objective: In recent years, the cessation of forestry projects and the resulting management vacuum have caused the deterioration of forest roads, and this issue has increasingly attracted the attention of experts to adopt an optimal approach to prevent the aggravation of damages caused by the implementation of the Forest Rest Law on the forest road network as a national capital and vital forest infrastructure. This study aimed to prioritize strategies by assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in terms of forest road management.
Materials and Methods: In the present study, first, a suitable set of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of forest road network management from an economic, technical, and social perspective was identified using library research, past studies, and the opinions of specialists and experts. To create a strategy in forest road management, first, factors attributed to strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and a number of strategic criteria were developed for ranking using expert opinions and questionnaire completion. These questionnaires were completed by a total of twenty people, including academics and forest engineers with experience in forest road management. Since SWOT analysis is a qualitative analysis and decision-making method for quantifying the factors used and modeling, strategic criteria were processed using the Buckley and Chang approaches, both of which are widely used in the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Strategic criteria, along with the sub-factors prepared for SWOT analysis, were modeled by performing pairwise comparisons and quantifying them with AHP.
Findings: Based on the results obtained, the weights of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the strategic management of forest roads in the north of the country were 3.43, 1.28, 3.78,
and 1.13, respectively. The restoration of forest road functions in the vast areas of northern forests is the most important strength, the high costs of restoring the forest road network and the lack of financial resources are the most important weakness, the continuous presence and timely protection of the forest against disasters and violations are the most important opportunity, and the risks of incorrect planning, excessive cost, and waste of capital are the most important threats created by the strategic management of northern forest roads. The best strategy for the strategic management of northern forest roads, according to experts, is to maintain part of the network, develop off-road tourist and monitoring routes, and protect and operate the road independently (drones, helicopters, and telecommunication systems). In this study, the weight of external factors (2.46) was greater than the weight of internal factors (2.36). The final scores on the four strategic situation axis of SWOT analysis are less than 2.5, so a defensive strategy should be adopted. The goal of this strategy is to reduce weaknesses and avoid threats. In fact, such organizations try to reduce their activities to maintain their survival.
Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, creating access to the field is the most important strength and desired outcome of the strategic management of the northern forest road network of the country, which provides the opportunity for continuous presence and timely protection of the forest. Adopting a defensive strategy and addressing weaknesses by providing financial resources to restore part of the forest road network and implementing other approaches and eliminating threats such as incorrect planning, excessive costs and waste of capital can achieve the strategic management goals of the northern forest roads. In conclusion, it can be acknowledged that SWOT-AHP is a useful tool for rational decision-making by considering all the factors that affect it.