Using stakeholder‐based fuzzy cognitive mapping to assess benefits of restoration in wildfire‐vulnerable forests

Understanding the benefits provided by restoring overstocked forests is crucial to guiding choice of management actions, policy initiatives, and investments beneficiaries, that is, monetizing ecosystem services. Using stakeholder-based fuzzy cognitive mapping, collected through workshops with natural-resource professionals, we mapped interactions services perceived effects actions on them. In line current concerns in California study area, found fire protection was as central (i.e., having a high degree congruence other services) improved providing important secondary services, notably air-quality protection, provision habitat, carbon storage. Forest restoration involves multiple fuels-reduction which were benefiting subsets also offering strong Prescribed burning, defensible-space creation, understory thinning, replanting showed particularly large differences when accounting for Resource managers nonmanager professionals prioritized similar second group placing more importance between different Ecosystem-service valuation includes offers salient, credible, legitimate approach inform multi-benefit forest management, where partnerships must monetize some those finance critical landscape restoration.