Aggregating forest harvesting activities in forest plantations through Integer Linear Programming and Goal Programming

The inclusion of criteria related to the spatial patterns resulting from forest harvesting activities is an important component of forest planning. Harvesting operations are more efficient when the harvesting areas are clustered. Therewith, it is possible to reduce the displacement of machinery and costs related to construction and maintenance of the road network. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate different strategies for aggregating harvesting stands in a forest plantation. We applied two Goal Programming approaches aiming at aggregating harvesting stands and an Integer Linear Programming model for including road investments into strategic forest planning.