Effectiveness analysis of soil and water conservation projects based on analytic hierarchy process

In this study, a comprehensive evaluation system was built to assess the effect of soil conservation project on the Qijiachuan demonstration area. With consideration of local complex topography, the amount of soil conserved by different project on plateau area, gully area, and slope surface was calculated. Results indicate that the average annual amount of soil conserved is 72.93 × 10³ t from 2008 to 2017, 115.43 × 10³ t from 2018 to 2027, and 140.95 × 10³ t from 2028 to 2037. Through formulating a series of pairwise comparison matrixes, AHP method can effectively identify the significance of indicators and assign weightage to them. Results reveal that gully head protection is the best alternative for soil conservation with the highest weightage of 23.3% among the ten projects. These findings can help establishing effective soil conservation system to prevent soil erosion to ensure sustainable development.