IWRAM: An integrated modelling toolbox for considering impacts of development and land use change in Northern Thailand

Abstract

The IWRAM Decision Support System was developed to consider economic, environmental, and sociocultural trade-offs involved with resource competition and development in the Mae Chaem catchment in Northern Thailand. IWRAM contains two modelling toolboxes utilising a nodal network structure for catchment analysis: a Biophysical Toolbox, for considering the biophysical (erosion, streamflow, crop) implications of 'painted on' land use scenarios; and, an Integrated Modelling Toolbox, which links models of household decision making with the biophysical toolbox to allow for consideration of socioeconomic and environmental trade-offs of many development and policy scenarios. This paper describes the Integrated Modelling Toolbox within the IWRAM system. Links between household decision models, a socioeconomic impacts model and the biophysical toolbox are described and results for a number of forest encroachment scenarios are demonstrated using key indicators of social, economic and environmental performance. The potential for reapplication of the modelling framework to a large number of catchment situations is also discussed.