| Summary: | Timor-leste adopted the national aquaculture development strategy (2012–2030) to enhance food security and rural livelihoods by promoting freshwater aquaculture in areas with adequate resources and favourable socioeconomic conditions. Despite the widespread use of gis in aquaculture research, its application to freshwater pond aquaculture in timor-leste remains underutilized. This study addresses this gap by developing a gis-based suitability model tailored to timor-leste’s unique biophysical and socioeconomic conditions. Biophysical and socioeconomic factors were identified through a literature review and refined via stakeholder consultations and participatory gis methods to ensure contextual relevance. The analytical hierarchy process (ahp) was used to weight criteria systematically and multi-criteria evaluation with weighted linear combination (mce-wlc) integrated these factors to assess suitability. Fuzzy logic transformations accommodated uncertainties and represented continuous suitability transitions. The gis model, validated using actual pond location data with 84% accuracy, identified 1,312 km² of highly suitable areas across three municipalities: bobonaro (588.1 km²), viqueque (373.2 km²), and lautem (350.6 km²). High-suitability areas relative to total municipality areas were most concentrated in ermera (43.1%), bobonaro (42.7%), and aileu (39.6%).
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