MULTICRITERIA DECISION ANALYSIS FOR PRIORITIZING AREAS FOR FOREST RESTORATION

ABSTRACT Urbanization process transforms original landscapes into an anthropic mosaic, causing impacts on hydrologic cycles and on landscape structure and functions. Aiming at the maintenance of the water resources and biodiversity, in an urbanized watershed, the objective of this study was the definition of priority areas for forest restoration. We used a Multicriteria Evaluation (MCE) method, following the steps: criteria definition, identification of the criteria importance, and criteria aggregation through Weighted Linear Combination (WLC). According to the experts, consulted in the context of the Participatory Technique, only two criteria represented the studied landscape: proximity to drainage network and proximity to forest patches. The first criterion was considered twice more important than the second, and through the pairwise comparison matrix, it was obtained respectively the criterion weights of 0.83 and 0.17. The priority map was obtained through the criteria aggregation, using WLC, that considered the criterion weights. The result was a priority map, indicating 5.06% of the study area with very-high priority for forest restoration; 5.22% with high priority; 5.76% with medium priority; 5,42% with low and; 78.53% with very-low priority. We can say that the framework predefined for the study proposed a scenario for priority areas that allowed driving the actions in order to obtain a landscape restoration, beginning through a forest corridor in the riparian zone. Thus, we concluded that the definition of priority areas for forest restoration is possible in an urbanized landscape, using the traditional WLC Multicriteria method. RESUMO O processo de urbanização transforma paisagens originais em um mosaico antropizado, causando impactos no ciclo hidrológico, na estrutura e função destas paisagens. Visando à manutenção dos recursos hídricos e da biodiversidade, em uma bacia hidrográfica urbanizada, o objetivo deste estudo foi a definição de áreas prioritárias à restauração florestal. Utilizou-se um método de Avaliação Multicriterial (AMC), seguindo as etapas: definição de critérios, identificação da importância dos critérios e, agregação de critérios por meio do método da Combinação Linear Ponderada (CLP). De acordo com os especialistas consultados, no contexto da Técnica Participatória, apenas dois critérios representavam a paisagem estudada: o proximidade à rede de drenagem e o proximidade aos fragmentos florestais. O primeiro critério foi consider