The investigation of the usability of GIS facilities for planning forest roads network in Iranian Caspian forest

One of the foundations of long-term management in the northern forests of Iran is the existence of forest roads network. Passing the roads through low to moderate slopes and areas with high level of stability, reduces the costs of excavation, earth filling, land stabilization, excavation gable roofs and earth filling, and thus reduces construction costs. This research was carried out in the Shafaroud forest in the west of Guilan province. The paper aims to develop a method using the GIS technology and MPSIAC model to produce the stability map for designing the new roads network in the study area. The results showed that the proposed road network with a length of 23908 meters compare to existing roads network with a length of 25280 meters, could generate a suitable coverage among the parcels. The length of the proposed roads network is 1372 meters less than the length of the existing roads and creates the highest percentage of coverage with the least length so that in addition to the reduction of costs the forestry plans could be directed in the way of sustainable development. Some 12% of the proposed road passes through regions with high stability more than the existing road and the passage of the proposed road through the unstable regions as compared to the existing road has reduced two times and has had a significant difference in the level of 99% and totally has reduced the corrosive effects of the road on the nature. Ultimately, the results yielded show that using the GIS can increase the accuracy of the designing and quality of the forest road network and reduce the costs.