Employing an Analytic Hierarchy Process to Prioritize the Most Important Non-wood Forest Products from Sălaj County

Abstract

The main purpose of the present paper is to highlight the most important non-wood forest products (NWFPs) from Sălaj County. For this purpose, a set of 19 criteria was taken into consideration and the analytic hierarchy process was applied to establish criteria weights. Subsequently, the method was tested by using Expert Choice software. The selected NWFPs were: honey fungus [Armillaria mellea (Vahl) P.Kumm.], parasol mushroom [Macrolepiota procera (Scop.) Singer], acorns, Tilia flowers, wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca L.), St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.), European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.) and European pine marten (Martes martes L.). The two NWFPs with the highest potential were European roe deer and honey fungus, while the less important ones were Tilia flowers and St John’s wort. Sălaj County has great potential, diversity and distribution of the NWFPs, but this sector is underdeveloped and disorganized. This approach provides forest managers with information to develop further NWFP management strategies.

Keywords

• analytic hierarchy process
• forest management
• non-wood forest products
• sălaj county.