Multisilva is a web-based decision support system to support forest management. This software focuses on the assessment of ecosystem services provision and identifies the economic costs deriving from different alternative management scenarios.
Multisilva has a Mapping Tool that supports the user in identifying ecosystem services hotspots located within the property and in its surroundings and hence integrating the provision of those ecosystem services in forest management and planning. For instance, it supplies the presence of habitats of protected species, drinking water sources or attractive areas for outdoor recreation.
Once identified which ecosystem services should be enhanced and where, Multisilva offers a Simulation Tool to quantify and compare the impacts of alternative managements on the provision of ecosystem services (measure through biophysical indicators) and the direct and indirect management costs.
Background:
Forests provide a large variety of ecosystem services, i.e., the benefits that people obtain from nature, for society’s wellbeing. These services range from market commodities like timber, pulp, paper, and fuelwood to public goods such as carbon sequestration, air and water purification, habitats for protected species and recreational opportunities.
An increasing number of public forest owners, forest administrations, forest investors and nature protected areas explicitly refer to the provision of multiple ecosystem services in their set of objectives. Managers of these organizations increasingly need to quantify the provision of ecosystem services from their forests, and to understand how to manage the trade-offs between these services and communicate it to the public and stakeholders.
However, quantitatively assessing the provision of ecosystem services requires a deeper understanding of the forest ecosystem functioning and the complex interactions between trees, soil, climate, and human activities. These competences are not immediately available for forest consultant companies and forest managers. This calls for a more sophisticated approach able to transfer the complexity of the scientific knowledge concerning ecosystem services and forest dynamics to practitioners. This will support the decision-making process and the robust quantification of the benefits provided to human society by forests.
Benefits:
Multisilva is simple to operate and ergonomic, with minimal user input (after an initial calibration and set up effort). It is unique since it can estimate indicators of multiple ecosystem services and compute direct and indirect management costs.
Applications:
Multisilva is built to support multifunctional forest management. It targets the management of forest at the forest property level in temperate and boreal climates. Multisilva can support public forest administrations, nature protection areas, large forest owners, forest consultants and forest investors.
Opportunity:
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