Using Multi-criteria GIS analysis in nature conservation planning in Lilla Edet municipality
(2026) In Master Thesis in Geographical Information Science GISM01 20261Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (MGeo)
Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Utmaningen för många kommuner med att skapa naturvårdsplaner är brister på resurser och tillgängligt underlag. Att ha en modell som kan uppskatta potentialen för naturvärden hade hjälpt kommunerna att fokusera sina resurser. I den här studien tas en sådan modell fram i Lilla Edets kommun med hjälp av MKA (Multikriterieanalays) i GIS genom att använda data som är tillgängligt för kommuner. Modellens resultat visar en överensstämning på 92% med valideringsdata för alla kriterier och klarar därmed valideringstestet. Resultaten från känslighetsanalysen visar att de känsligaste kriteriegrupperna är ”Jordart”, ”Avstånd till vägar” och ”Värdekärnor skog” med en påverkan på upp till 4% på resultatet när kriteriegruppernas vitk justerades 20%.... (More)
- Utmaningen för många kommuner med att skapa naturvårdsplaner är brister på resurser och tillgängligt underlag. Att ha en modell som kan uppskatta potentialen för naturvärden hade hjälpt kommunerna att fokusera sina resurser. I den här studien tas en sådan modell fram i Lilla Edets kommun med hjälp av MKA (Multikriterieanalays) i GIS genom att använda data som är tillgängligt för kommuner. Modellens resultat visar en överensstämning på 92% med valideringsdata för alla kriterier och klarar därmed valideringstestet. Resultaten från känslighetsanalysen visar att de känsligaste kriteriegrupperna är ”Jordart”, ”Avstånd till vägar” och ”Värdekärnor skog” med en påverkan på upp till 4% på resultatet när kriteriegruppernas vitk justerades 20%. Detta indikerar indikerar på acceptabel robusthet i känslighetsanalysen och pålitlighet i relation till valideringsdata. Med andra ord så replikerear modellen de mer resurskrävande, etablerade metoderna på ett tillfredställande sätt och kan användas som ett indikeringsverktyg för naturvärden i samband med naturvårdsplanering i Lilla Edets kommun. Vidare studier krävs för att verifiera hur modellen presterar i andra geografiska områden eller med andra variabler och kriterier i metoden. (Less)
- Abstract
- The challenge of nature conservation for municipalities usually revolves around limited resources and available data. A method that could predict the potential for nature values in different areas would help municipalities focus the available resources they have where they are most needed. In this study, such a model has been developed and tested for Lilla Edet municipality using MCA (Multi-criteria analysis) in GIS with data that are available to municipalities. The model results show a 92% level of agreement in relation to validation data using all criteria and pass the validation test. The results from the sensitivity analysis show that the most sensitive criteria groups are “Soil”, “Distance to roads” and “Forest value cores” with a... (More)
- The challenge of nature conservation for municipalities usually revolves around limited resources and available data. A method that could predict the potential for nature values in different areas would help municipalities focus the available resources they have where they are most needed. In this study, such a model has been developed and tested for Lilla Edet municipality using MCA (Multi-criteria analysis) in GIS with data that are available to municipalities. The model results show a 92% level of agreement in relation to validation data using all criteria and pass the validation test. The results from the sensitivity analysis show that the most sensitive criteria groups are “Soil”, “Distance to roads” and “Forest value cores” with a resulting change of up to 4% on the results when adjusting the criteria group weights 20%. This indicates acceptable robustness in the sensitivity analysis and validity in the form of validation data agreement testing. In other words, it replicates the more resource demanding established methods sufficiently and can be used as an indicator tool for nature values in municipality conservation planning in Lilla Edet municipality. Further research is needed to verify how this model would perform in other geographical areas or with alternative variables and criteria in the methods. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- It is common to hear that we need to protect nature and biodiversity, but what does that really mean and how can it be done? Protection of biodiversity is happening at different levels in the world. It requires knowledge about which types of nature areas that need protection the most and where these are located.
On a global level there are goals set by the UN to protect biodiversity, keeping a large variety of species and types of habitats. At a national level in Sweden there are guidelines that municipalities should follow. Municipalities work on the closest level to make sure that biodiversity and nature values are protected. This is often done by creating a plan for protecting identified areas, but how does the municipality know where... (More) - It is common to hear that we need to protect nature and biodiversity, but what does that really mean and how can it be done? Protection of biodiversity is happening at different levels in the world. It requires knowledge about which types of nature areas that need protection the most and where these are located.
On a global level there are goals set by the UN to protect biodiversity, keeping a large variety of species and types of habitats. At a national level in Sweden there are guidelines that municipalities should follow. Municipalities work on the closest level to make sure that biodiversity and nature values are protected. This is often done by creating a plan for protecting identified areas, but how does the municipality know where these nature values are located? They oftentimes rely on manual review of existing data, local knowledge and field data to identify these areas. However, it is a costly and time-consuming process that could be more efficient. This study investigates if a geographical analysis model called multi-criteria analysis can help make the process of identifying nature values more efficient by testing it in the municipality of Lilla Edet.
Nature values are a descriptive term for areas with qualities that are important for biodiversity, the more qualities of this kind that are present in an area, the higher the nature value is. So, to identify nature values there is a lot of information needed. This information is available as maps with connected data for municipalities and can be sorted and combined in different ways to estimate where nature values might be located. This is where the previously mentioned multi-criteria analysis comes in, it is an analysis model that can be used to combine many different map data and give them different levels of importance and relevance for nature values. There are many different datasets included in the analysis model developed in this study which were chosen by experts with good knowledge in ecology.
The model was tested in Lilla Edet municipality and resulted in a map showing where there are different levels of potential for nature values. While this study was being conducted, a nature conservation plan was created by the municipality. This municipality project resulted in a map of areas with high nature values identified by manual methods. The dataset could then be compared to the results of the analysis model to see how well they matched and how well the model performed. Results showed that the model results identified potential for high nature values in places where they have actually been observed at a 92% rate and could therefore be used as a tool to identify areas where the municipalities can focus their field visits and save time on manual analysis. The model should be tested in other municipalities and with adjusted model parameters to verify the quality of the model and fine-tune it. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9225775
- author
- Berntsson, Jenny LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- GISM01 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Geography, GIS, Multi-criteria analysis, nature conservation, nature values, Lilla Edet, MCA
- publication/series
- Master Thesis in Geographical Information Science
- report number
- 208
- language
- English
- id
- 9225775
- date added to LUP
- 2026-04-28 13:48:04
- date last changed
- 2026-04-28 13:48:04
@misc{9225775,
abstract = {{The challenge of nature conservation for municipalities usually revolves around limited resources and available data. A method that could predict the potential for nature values in different areas would help municipalities focus the available resources they have where they are most needed. In this study, such a model has been developed and tested for Lilla Edet municipality using MCA (Multi-criteria analysis) in GIS with data that are available to municipalities. The model results show a 92% level of agreement in relation to validation data using all criteria and pass the validation test. The results from the sensitivity analysis show that the most sensitive criteria groups are “Soil”, “Distance to roads” and “Forest value cores” with a resulting change of up to 4% on the results when adjusting the criteria group weights 20%. This indicates acceptable robustness in the sensitivity analysis and validity in the form of validation data agreement testing. In other words, it replicates the more resource demanding established methods sufficiently and can be used as an indicator tool for nature values in municipality conservation planning in Lilla Edet municipality. Further research is needed to verify how this model would perform in other geographical areas or with alternative variables and criteria in the methods.}},
author = {{Berntsson, Jenny}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
series = {{Master Thesis in Geographical Information Science}},
title = {{Using Multi-criteria GIS analysis in nature conservation planning in Lilla Edet municipality}},
year = {{2026}},
}