Analytic Network Process (ANP)

The Analytic Network Process (ANP) is used in forest restoration to evaluate and prioritize management strategies by modelling the complex interdependencies between various factors like environmental, social, and economic criteria. By using a network structure, ANP can more accurately represent the relationships and feedback loops that are missed in simpler hierarchical methods, such as the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), allowing for a more systemic and comprehensive analysis of forest management and restoration decisions.

The Analytic Network Process (ANP) is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method developed by Thomas L. Saaty. It is a generalization of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) that allows for the modelling of complex decision problems involving interdependencies and feedback between decision elements. Unlike AHP, which structures a problem linearly as a hierarchy (Goal à Criteria à Alternatives) and assumes independence between elements, ANP uses a network structure to capture real-world complexities.

The Analytic Network Process (ANP) is a highly suitable and commonly used tool in forest restoration and sustainable forest management. It is frequently employed because restoration projects are complex, involving numerous, often-conflicting criteria that are interdependent, which is exactly the type of problem ANP is designed to model.

A paper by Wolfslehner et al. (2005) discusses the differences in evaluation results between AHP and ANP, as well as strengths and weaknesses of both approaches for SFM. Mohammadi and Mohammadi (2008) used AHP and ANP to compare different strategic management options in the Shafarood forest in north of Iran.