Exploring Stakeholders' Perceptions with Analytic Hierarchy Process—A Case Study of Red Sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus L.) Restoration in India

Abstract

Diverse stakeholders and multiple management options pose challenges to restoration planning and management. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a multicriteria decision-making tool, can be effectively used for incorporating stakeholders' perceptions in planning. By using Red sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus L.) restoration as a case study, we demonstrate its suitability in eliciting stakeholders' perceptions about the most suitable management option, and their expectations from it. Four key stakeholder groups, Administrators, Field Officers, Community, and Knowledgeable Sources, were used to identify the most suitable management option from Government Management (GM), Quasi-Government Management, Community Forest Management (CFM), and Private Management. Results indicate that stakeholders' preferences for management options were not homogeneous. Consolidated priorities across all the stakeholder groups indicated the CFM (34%) as the most preferred option followed by the GM (31%). With an average weight of 56%, the ecological criterion was considered as the most important. The ability of the managements in reducing disturbances (23%), improving Red sanders density (18%), improving ecosystem services (15%), and in improving rural livelihoods (15%) were considered important. The preferences of the Administrators and the Field Officers for the GM indicated their support for the top-down management approach, and skepticism toward the CFM, a bottom-up approach. Compared to the Administrators, the Field Officers' lack of support for the CFM was surprisingly more pronounced. Results indicate the usefulness of the AHP technique in identifying common grounds between the diverse stakeholders, and the management, in identifying a suitable management alternative and in prioritizing preferences.

Using an analytic hierarchy process approach to prioritize public policies addressing family farming in Brazil

“…It can be applied with a limited number of individuals or groups, as long as they are knowledgeable about the problem at hand, which is different from statistical methods that require ideal sample size for data collection. Furthermore, this approach can also be used in decision-making procedures where perceptions of individuals, groups, or both, are under consideration (Duke and Aull-Hyde, 2002;Kukrety et al, 2013).…”

“…The AHP decision hierarchy built for the present study was based on literature reviews (Ellis, 1998;Ananda and Herath, 2003;Schneider, 2007;Chávez et al, 2012;Xu et al, 2012;Kukrety et al, 2013;Kurka, 2013;Kurka and Blackwood, 2013) as well as information gathered during preliminary fieldwork in October 2013. This fieldwork was fundamental to the engagement of stakeholders in the study and to the selection of criteria and decision attributes, considering there are no well-established guidelines for this type of AHP application, similar to that presented by Garfì and Ferrer-Martì (2011) for water and sanitation projects.…”

“…It gives the relative priority of the element measured in a ratio scale (Saaty, 1990). In addition, the AHP also allows decision makers to maintain control over the inconsistent comparisons that may occur due to inherent human nature (Kukrety et al, 2013).…”

“…The sum of the overall priorities at each level is equal to one. As a result, the overall priority value of the elements at a level shows the proportionate contribution to the overall preference of the individual or the stakeholder group (Kukrety et al, 2013).…”

“…Duke and Aull-Hyde (2002) Kurka (2013) employed the AHP method to assess different bioenergy alternatives concerning their regional sustainability in Scotland. Kukrety et al (2013) incorporated stakeholder perceptions about the most suitable restoration planning and management option in India by using the AHP.…”