Abstract

SANCHEZ COHEN, Ignacio; DIAZ PADILLA, Gabriel; GUAJARDO PANES, Rafael  and  MACIAS RODRIGUEZ, Hilario. Decision making for sustainable developement of natural resources. Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2011, vol.2, n.spe1, pp.57-68. ISSN 2007-0934.

The gradual and persistent deterioration bound to the ecosystems, indicate that the study's approach to provide holistic solutions, must be the integrated natural resource management. This outlook goes beyond summing parts; moreover, it seeks the integration of components and objectives for the common good. Designing strategies with this goal in mind implies to including a vast array of agents, especially those that will benefit themselves during this process; i. e. diverse and multi-objective processes. The present study proposes a method to meet the challenge of the sustainable development triangle encompassing economic growth along with equity and without degrading the environment. Suggested alternatives include three main aspects: 1) a shift in productive schemes; 2) social services; and 3) conservation of natural resources. Criteria to evaluate these alternatives are, thus, those that define the catheti of the triangle, namely: 1) equity; 2) sustainability; and 3) economic growth. Each of these divided in sub-categories: 1) social; 2) environmental; and 3) economic. The algorithm is systematized with a decision support system (DSS definite). The results show that access to credits and training are the best alternatives, independently of the hierarchy for organizing criteria. Also, sensitivity analysis shows that alternatives are more sensible to weight changes in the sustainability criteria than in the case of equity and economic growth.

Keywords : decision; management; multi-objective processes; practices.