agriculture Article Mapping Priority Areas for Apiculture Development with the Use of Geographical Information Systems Simeon Marnasidis 1,*, Apostolos Kantartzis 1, Chrisovalantis Malesios 2 , Fani Hatjina 3 , Garyfallos Arabatzis 1 and Efstathia Verikouki 4 1 Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, 193 Pantazidou St., 68200 Orestiada, Greece;
[email protected] (A.K.);
[email protected] (G.A.) 2 Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Agricultural University of Athens, 75 Iera odos St., 11855 Athens, Greece;
[email protected] 3 Department of Apiculture, Institute of Animal Science—Hellinikos Georgikos Organismos DIMITRA, 63200 Nea Moudania, Greece;
[email protected] 4 Faculty of Agriculture, Vocational School (EPAL) of Edessa, Melinas Merkouri 28, 58200 Edessa, Greece;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +30-2381-351-364 Abstract: Supporting local and central authorities in decision-making processes pertaining to envi- ronmental planning requires the adoption of scientific methods and the submission of proposals that could be implemented in practice. Taking into consideration the dual role that honeybees play as honey producers and crop pollinators, the aim of the present study is to identify and utilize a number of indicators and subsequently develop priority thematic maps. Previous research has focused on the determination of, and, on certain occasions, on mapping, priority areas for apiculture development, Citation: Marnasidis, S.; Kantartzis, based mainly on the needs of honeybees, without taking into consideration the pollination needs of A.; Malesios, C.; Hatjina, F.; Arabatzis, crops that are cultivated in these areas. In addition, research so far has been carried out in specific G.; Verikouki, E.