How to Determine the Ecological Footprint of a Population

Many concerned individuals calculate their ecological footprints to learn how they can make their lifestyles more eco-friendly. (res 1-CSE, res 2-EDN FC) However, as the Earth Day Network points out, ecological footprints can also be determined for and applied to "activities (such as manufacturing a product)" and "groups of people (such as a nation)," that is, populations. (ref 2-EDN FAQ, ref 3-EC, res 5-WWF) During the early 1990s, William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel developed the most common method for computing ecological footprints. Regularly updated, it measures human consumption of ecosystem products and waste disposal against biocapacity, the areas of land and sea necessary to meet these demands. It is quite frequently used to assess whole populations. (ref 1-2020, ref 4-GFN Ovw, ref 3-GFN NFA p. 1; ref 6-WC)

Instructions

• 1

  Decide which population you wish to evaluate. It could be, for example, a building or neighborhood, a city, a rural district, a province or state, a nation, a global region or continent, or humankind as a whole. If the population's footprint has been previously determined, there are many possible reasons for recalculating it. These include: testing the validity of an already existing methodology or calculation, measuring any changes in footprint over time, or applying new definitions of your selected population or new methods for calculating its footprint. (ref 5-GFN MS. ref 6-WC, res 4-GFN FATQ)

• 2

  Familiarize yourself with the most current version of Rees' and Wackernagel's footprint calculation method. This computes in tons per year the selected population's total biomaterials consumed and biowastes created. Using a complex equivalence formula, it determines the total number of global hectares, on both land and sea, needed to sustain the population's levels of consumption and waste disposal. The result is the population's ecological footprint. This can be further translated into the number of Earths required if all humankind had the same consumption and waste levels. If this methodology does not address your questions about your selected population, you can adapt it or scale it to your purposes; search the scientific literature for alternatives, or even try to create a method of your own. (ref 2-EDN FAQ, ref 3- GFN CM, ref 5-GFN MS, ref 6-WC, res 4-GFN FATQ)

• 3

  Gather the necessary data to determine your indicators of both human demand and biocapacity. In all likelihood, you will be able to draw on already existing data sets. This is a fairly common practice. For example, the Global Footprint Network annually calculates the footprints of over 200 countries using data sets from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Energy Agency. For a sub-national population, you may be able to extract the relevant portions of these data sets, or for an international population, pool them together. If any of the necessary data sets have not yet been gathered, you will need to do this yourself. (ref. 3-GFN CM p. 2)

• 4

  According to your chosen methodology, compute the indicators of human demand against the indicators of biocapacity. The result is your chosen population's ecological footprint. (ref 3-GFN CM)

• 5

  Decide how you will disseminate your findings to the scientific community and members of and stakeholders in your selected population. Seek out opportunities for scientific peer review and public feedback, discussion and action.