Using Gis Techniques in Planning Forest Roads Considering Design Objectives

Abstract

The forests, especially in such a big metropolis like Istanbul, not only should produce

forest products but also satisfy recreational demands of the people. Thus, forest engineers should

design optimum forest road network which allows forest service people to reach any places in

the forest and also provides public with access for recreational places. GIS techniques, used in a

wide variety of principles in many parts of the world, have been implemented in the field of

forestry to generate stand maps, develop land models, and plan forest roads. In this study,

network analysis method in a commonly used GIS tool (ArcGIS v9.2) is employed to plan a

forest road network subject to design objectives in the Research Forest of Istanbul University