What is an Ecological Footprint?
An Ecological Footprint is the per person area of land required to supply the goods and services that sustain our everyday life and lifestyle. It is defined as the amount of land in six categories (crop, grazing, garden, consumed, forest and energy land) required to provide our requirements for food, housing, transport, consumer goods and services. It is a measurement of how much area of biologically productive land and water an individual, business, or product needs to produce all the resources it consumes and to eliminate associated waste using technology and resource management practices. The Ecological Footprint is usually measured in global hectares. TCF converts this universally accepted Ecological Footprint into a Biodiversity Credit which is then associated with conservation and sustainability projects in the tropics. Biodiversity Credits are used since not all habitat is equal - some lands are more biodiverse than others. Converting to Biodiversity Credits further delineates between simply accounting for carbon stored on land and incorporating the True Value of biodiversity.
The National Footprint Accounts, 2010 Edition track human demand for ecological services in terms of six major land use types (cropland,
grazing land, forest land, carbon Footprint, fishing grounds, and developed land).
The components of the Ecological Footprint include:
Cropland: Cropland is the most biological productivity of all the land-use types and consists of areas used to produce food and fiber for human consumption, feed for livestock, oil crops, and rubber. Due to lack of globally consistent data sets, current cropland Footprint calculations do not yet take into account the extent to which farming techniques or unsustainable agricultural practices may cause long-term degradation of soil. The cropland Footprint includes crop products allocated to livestock and aquaculture feed mixes, and those used for fibers and materials.
Forest land: Provides for two services: The forest product Footprint, which is calculated based on the amount of lumber, pulp, timber products, and fuel wood consumed by a country on a yearly basis. It also accommodates the Carbon Footprint, which represents the carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels. The carbon Footprint also includes embodied carbon in imported goods. It is represented by the area necessary to sequester these carbon emissions. The carbon Footprint component of the Ecological Footprint is calculated as the amount of forest land needed to absorb these carbon dioxide emissions for good. Currently, the carbon Footprint is the largest portion of humanity’s Footprint.
Fishing grounds: The fishing grounds Footprint is calculated based on estimates of the maximum sustainable catch for a variety of fish species. These sustainable catch estimates are converted into an equivalent mass of primary production based on the various species’ trophic levels. This estimate of maximum harvestable primary production is then divided amongst the continental shelf areas of the world. Fish caught and used in aquaculture feed mixes are included.
Grazing land: Grazing land is used to raise livestock for meat, dairy, hide, and wool products. The grazing land Footprint is calculated by comparing the amount of livestock feed available in a country with the amount of feed required for all livestock in that year, with the remainder of feed demand assumed to come from grazing land.
Built-up land: The built-up land Footprint is calculated based on the area of land covered by human infrastructure — transportation, housing, industrial structures, and reservoirs for hydropower. In absence of better evidence, we typically assume that built-up land occupies what would previously have been cropland.
An Ecological Footprint is the per person area of land required to supply the goods and services that sustain our everyday life and lifestyle. It is defined as the amount of land in six categories (crop, grazing, garden, consumed, forest and energy land) required to provide our requirements for food, housing, transport, consumer goods and services. It is a measurement of how much area of biologically productive land and water an individual, business, or product needs to produce all the resources it consumes and to eliminate associated waste using technology and resource management practices. The Ecological Footprint is usually measured in global hectares. TCF converts this universally accepted Ecological Footprint into a Biodiversity Credit which is then associated with conservation and sustainability projects in the tropics. Biodiversity Credits are used since not all habitat is equal - some lands are more biodiverse than others. Converting to Biodiversity Credits further delineates between simply accounting for carbon stored on land and incorporating the True Value of biodiversity.
The National Footprint Accounts, 2010 Edition track human demand for ecological services in terms of six major land use types (cropland,
grazing land, forest land, carbon Footprint, fishing grounds, and developed land).
The components of the Ecological Footprint include:
Cropland: Cropland is the most biological productivity of all the land-use types and consists of areas used to produce food and fiber for human consumption, feed for livestock, oil crops, and rubber. Due to lack of globally consistent data sets, current cropland Footprint calculations do not yet take into account the extent to which farming techniques or unsustainable agricultural practices may cause long-term degradation of soil. The cropland Footprint includes crop products allocated to livestock and aquaculture feed mixes, and those used for fibers and materials.
Forest land: Provides for two services: The forest product Footprint, which is calculated based on the amount of lumber, pulp, timber products, and fuel wood consumed by a country on a yearly basis. It also accommodates the Carbon Footprint, which represents the carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels. The carbon Footprint also includes embodied carbon in imported goods. It is represented by the area necessary to sequester these carbon emissions. The carbon Footprint component of the Ecological Footprint is calculated as the amount of forest land needed to absorb these carbon dioxide emissions for good. Currently, the carbon Footprint is the largest portion of humanity’s Footprint.
Fishing grounds: The fishing grounds Footprint is calculated based on estimates of the maximum sustainable catch for a variety of fish species. These sustainable catch estimates are converted into an equivalent mass of primary production based on the various species’ trophic levels. This estimate of maximum harvestable primary production is then divided amongst the continental shelf areas of the world. Fish caught and used in aquaculture feed mixes are included.
Grazing land: Grazing land is used to raise livestock for meat, dairy, hide, and wool products. The grazing land Footprint is calculated by comparing the amount of livestock feed available in a country with the amount of feed required for all livestock in that year, with the remainder of feed demand assumed to come from grazing land.
Built-up land: The built-up land Footprint is calculated based on the area of land covered by human infrastructure — transportation, housing, industrial structures, and reservoirs for hydropower. In absence of better evidence, we typically assume that built-up land occupies what would previously have been cropland.