NATURAL-RESOURCE MANAGEMENT - OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN THE APPLICATION OF DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEMS

Decision support systems have been most successfully applied in engine ered systems or simplified, intensively managed systems and in address ing highly defined and well structured domains. In such contexts, syst em functioning and the problems addressed in management are relatively well understood. In contrast, natural resource management for sustain ability, particularly at a catchment or landscape scale, is typically characterized by consideration of complex interactions which are only partially understood and about which limited data are available. Oppor tunities exist for the application of AI techniques in improving the e fficacy of natural resource management for sustainability in three key areas: providing support in the often complex and demanding process o f problem formulation and task analysis; making effective use of avail able data and knowledge bases; and in supporting rational use of the r esults of analysis. However, there are practical challenges to be face d in integrating a sufficient range of the identified techniques to me et a sufficiently useful proportion of the tasks faced in natural reso urce management to attain widespread operational acceptance. More fund amentally, the inherent nature of natural resource management is polit ical, while most Al applications to date have been based on a view tha t decision making is a purely rational process with demonstrably corre ct solutions.