A Buffered Area Restriction Model (BARM) for optimisation of spatially constrained forest harvest scheduling

The paper presents a modified version of Path Formulation for an Area Restriction Model (ARM). The operational research tool automatically constructs suitable buffers among forest unit boundaries to optimise harvesting scheduling in case of management constraints (i.e. maximum adjacent harvested area, green-up age, minimum level of net present value – NPV – to be obtained in different periods etc.). The objective function of the Buffered Area Restriction Model (BARM) is the maximisation of NPV. Economic analysis is developed through an open-source Geographic Information System Decision Support, r.green.biomassfor. The model is tested in a hypothetical forest with scenarios from 30 to 150 forest units. Outputs demonstrate improved optimisation with respect to basic formulation of ARM as well as other models presented in literature. Results show that – in the case study – NPV can reach an improvement of almost 25 % (30 % in a Toy scenario) compared to the base ARM formulation. Highly acceptable errors and resolution times are provided by BARM also in the perspectives of both scientific integration and practical applications. Strengths, weaknesses and potential future improvements of the model are presented.