Ecological Footprints

What is Calderdale's 'Ecological Footprint'?

The Ecological Footprint measures how much nature we have, how much nature we use, and who uses what. Calderdale's Ecological Footprint represents the amount of biologically productive land and water its residents use. We use land for the natural resources it can provide, such as food and timber, for its ecological services, such as absorbing waste, and to build and live on. Our global Ecological Footprint is larger than available productive land because we are using natural resources more quickly than they replenish. This is called overshoot .

The world average Ecological Footprint is 2.2 global hectares per person. In contrast, dividing the total biologically productive surface area of the planet by the current population gives us our budget for sustainable living: 1.8 hectares per person (some of which we may want to share with other species). By contrast Calderdale's Ecological Footprint is 5.22 global hectares per person ( UK: 5.4); this is more than 60% higher than our ecological budget.  The UK has an Ecological Footprint among the highest 15 countries on a per person basis.

Download the Calderdale Ecological Footprint report and datasheet . More information from Stockholm Institute   http://www.sei.se/reap/index.php and WWF  http://www.wwflearning.org.uk/ecobudget/localauthorities/  

Today, the world is in ecological overshoot. Humanity's Ecological Footprint exceeds the Earth's biocapacity by over 20 percent. Overshoot means using resources more quickly than they can be replenished. Trees can be harvested faster than they regrow, fisheries can be depleted more rapidly than they restock, and CO 2 can be emitted more quickly than ecosystems can absorb it. It is possible to exceed ecological limits for a while, but this ‘deficit spending' leads to the destruction of ecological assets, on which our economy depends, such as depleted groundwater, collapsing fisheries, CO 2 accumulation in the atmosphere, and deforestation. With humanity's current demand on nature, overshoot is no longer merely a local, but a global phenomenon.