Non-monetary valuation using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis: Using a strength-of-evidence approach to inform...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Ecosystem Services
• Decision Analysis

Background:

• Ecosystem service (ES) outcomes are often poorly defined, with inherent imprecision and uncertainty.
• Traditional methods struggle to incorporate imperfect knowledge in environmental decision-making.
• Outranking methods offer a way to analyze ES outcomes with preference measures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach for comparing non-monetary ecosystem service outcomes.
• To apply the Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) to a real-world environmental planning problem.
• To evaluate wetland restoration alternatives based on multiple ecosystem services.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the PROMETHEE outranking method for Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis.
• Applied the method to a wetland restoration planning case study in Rhode Island, USA.
• Incorporated 22 benefit indicators for five ES, plus social equity and reliability indicators.

Main Results:

• Ranked four wetland restoration alternatives based on their ability to provide ecosystem services.
• Developed preference functions to quantify the strength of evidence between alternatives.
• Demonstrated the application of PROMETHEE with weights on ES relevant to planning contexts.

Conclusions:

• The PROMETHEE method can effectively handle imprecision and uncertainty in ecosystem service assessments.
• The study provides insights into the successes and challenges of implementing advanced decision-support tools in environmental planning.
• Collaboration with stakeholders is crucial for the successful application of such methods.