1156 | 386 | Application of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making and GIS for Sustainable beekeeping (case study of Krivodol Municipality, Bulgaria) | Milena Tocheva, Nikolay Nikolov, Bilyana Borissova

In the past few decades, the beekeeping sector has been facing challenges related to high bee mortality rates globally. However, pollinators play a large economic role in crop reproduction worth over one trillion dollars a year (Hartfelder, 2013). In particular, insect-dependent food production was valued at 625 billion euros in 2005, with pollination services provided by bees accounting for 153 billion euros (Gallai et al., 2009). Determining the suitability of a specific area for apiary is vital for beekeeping sustainability. Interdisciplinary approaches are needed to address the challenges faced by Apis mellifera and other pollinator species in the face of intensive land use. By using a GIS-based approach and Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM), beekeepers and farmers can identify the optimal locations for beehives, which can improve the sustainability of the ecosystem service pollination and contribute to a balance between economic benefits and healthy ecosystem maintenance._x000D_
This study used various environmental components such as land cover, slope gradient, and distance from water bodies, roads, and settlements to evaluate Krivodol municipality’s (Northwestern Bulgaria) territory’s suitability for beekeeping. The multi-criteria decision-making approach refined by the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was used to identify the most favorable areas for apiary development while limiting pressures and risks considering that 68.7% of the selected municipality territory is occupied by cropland. The obtained results classify large part of the territory of Krivodol municipality (76.5%) as suitable for beekeeping development, based on a scale from 1 to 5 where «suitable» is the mid value._x000D_
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1.Hartfelder, K., 2013, Polinizadores do Brasil. Estudos Avançados, 27, 303–306_x000D_
2.Gallai, N.; Salles, J.M.; Settele, J.; Vaissière, B.E.,2009, Economic valuation of the vulnerability of world agriculture confronted with pollinator decline. Ecol. Econ., 68, 810–821._x000D_
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Milena Tocheva, Nikolay Nikolov, Bilyana Borissova
Faculty of Geology and Geography Sofia University «St.Kliment Ohridski»
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