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What is Ecological Footprint and Why is it Important?

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DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.10830.51521/1

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 ISSN 972-7027X

9 779727 027003
AGROBIOS NEWSLETTER Publishing Date || 01 June 2019

CONTENTS
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DATE OF PUBLISHING: 01 June, 2019 14. What is Ecological Footprint and
DATE OF POSTING Why is it Important? 25
07-08 OF EVERY MONTH AT RMS POST OFFICE Ashvin Kumar Meena and
Tikendra Kumar Yadav

VOL. NO. XVIII, ISSUE NO. 01 3


AGROBIOS NEWSLETTER
3-8 days are required to complete the process. The
stack is then opened, and the charcoal is removed
and allowed to cool. Finally, it is graded and bagged
up for sale.
To produce 1 kg charcoal, approximately 6-9 kg
Prosopis juliflora woods are required, depending
on the method used.
Wood as timber
The wood of Prosopis juliflora can be used as round
wood or processed into chips or sawn wood. Long
and relatively less straight pieces can be used for
posts and poles. These can be simply fashioned
into fence posts or poles for light construction, for
incorporation into house structures or for supporting
shuttering while concrete is being cast. Chipping of
Prosopis wood is done to manufacture plywood,
particle board, paper and cardboard. However,
before chipping, wood is treated chemically or by
direct heating.
The maximum value that can be obtained for
14. What is Ecological Footprint
and Why is it Important?
ASHVIN KUMAR MEENA AND TIKENDRA KUMAR YADAV
Research Scholar, Department of Agronomy, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu
University Varanasi (UP)
Corresponding Authors email: ashvin.agro@gmail.com
The ecological footprint measures human demand
on nature, i.e., the quantity of nature it takes to
support people or an economy. It tracks this demand
through an ecological accounting system. The
accounts contrast the biologically productive area
people use for their consumption to the biologically
productive area available within a region or the
world (biocapacity). In short, it is a measure of
human impact on Earth’s ecosystem and reveals
the dependence of the human economy on natural
capital. The ecological footprint is defined as the
biologically productive area needed to provide
for everything people use: fruits and vegetables,
fish, wood, fibres, absorption of carbon dioxide
from fossil fuel use, and space for buildings and
roads. Biocapacity is the productive area that can
regenerate what people demand from nature.
Footprint and biocapacity can be compared at the
individual, regional, national or global scale. Both
footprint and biocapacity change every year with
a number of people, per person consumption,
the efficiency of production, and productivity of
ecosystems.
Environmental Footprint
The effect that a person, company, activity, etc.
has on the environment is called an environmental
footprint. For example, the number of natural
VOL. NO. XVIII, ISSUE NO. 01
Publishing Date || 01 June 2019
Prosopis juliflora wood is when converted into
boards and cants. Trees with a clean bole of around
2 m lengths (lumber) are best for making furniture.
Pods as animal feed
Prosopis juliflora pods have used as cattle, sheep
and goats feed. Livestock consumes ripe or unripe
pods directly. More than 60% of pods are consumed
raw by livestock. Average pod production was
approximately 20 kg/tree with a range of 5-50 kg/
tree.
Other uses
Prosopis juliflora is an ideal species for afforestation
of barren ground in arid tracts. Covering such areas
with Prosopis juliflora also helps to reduce soil pH
and increase the status of soil organic matter and
nitrogen in the upper soil layer and helps to reclaim
hard clayey and saline soils. It acts as a shelterbelt
in stabilizing shifting sand dunes.
18160
resources that they use and the amount of harmful
gases that they produce.
Footprint Measurement
Ecological footprint analysis is widely used around
the Earth in support of sustainability assessments.
It can be used to measure and manage the use of
resources throughout the economy and explore
the sustainability of individual lifestyles, goods
and services, organizations, industry sectors,
neighbourhoods, cities, regions and nations. Since
2006, the first set of ecological footprint standards
exist that details both communication and
calculation procedures. Ecological footprints can
be calculated at any scale: for an activity, a person,
a community, a city, a region, a nation or humanity
as a whole.
Global Footprints
At a global scale, footprint assessments show
how big humanity’s demand is compared to what
planet Earth can renew. Global Footprint Network
calculates the ecological footprint from UN and
Agronomy
other data for the world as a whole and for over
200 nations. In 2013, the Global Footprint Network
estimated the global ecological footprint as 1.6
planet Earths. This means that, according to their
calculations, the planet’s ecological services
25
 Publishing Date || 01 June 2019 AGROBIOS NEWSLETTER

were being used 1.6 times faster than they were system is indirect, as it also depends on other climate
being renewed. Currently, there is no fixed way variables such as rainfall and temperature. There
to measure global footprints, and any attempts to are two types of indicators of environmental impact:
describe the capacity of an ecosystem in a single “means-based”, which is based on the farmer’s
number is a massive simplification of thousands of production methods, and “effect-based”, which
key renewable resources, which are not used or is the impact that farming methods have on the
replenished at the same rate. farming system or on emissions to the environment.
City Ecological Footprints
City footprints are being measured. There are two
types of measurements in use. The first measures
ecosystem displacement, which is defined as the
City Area minus remaining green spaces. This is an
area measurement that does not include human
or other biological activity. The Second attempts to
quantify surviving ecosystem health. Specifically, it
attempts to quantify both area and biological health
of ecosystems surviving inside city areas such as
nature reserves, parks, and other green spaces. City
footprints are being calculated and ranked with city
ecological indexes.
Advantages of ecological foot prints
1. It is a single unit that allows disaggregation of
indicators.
2. It could be widely applied to various programs/
activities.
3. It may be top down or bottom up.
4. It is useful as a means of communication
policy.
5. The method is constantly being updated and
improved by the Global Footprint Network.
6. It is able to indicate the nature of limited natural
capital.
7. It creates credibility as a policy tool.
8. It has an ability to analyze sustainable
development of a vague concept into
measurable objectives.
Disadvantages of ecological foot prints
1. Ecological footprint analysis uses hypothetical
land, which does not represent the actual land
use.
2. It simplifies the use of natural resources,
3. It risks as having double counting.
4. Most are portraits of consumption.
5. It does not provide clear policy guidance except
for the subtraction of consumption.
6. Sometimes, it is based on questionable
assumptions.

Environmental Impact of Agriculture

The environmental impact of agriculture is the
effect that different farming practices have on
the ecosystems around them and how those An example of a means-based indicator would
effects can be traced back to those practices. The be the quality of groundwater that is affected by the
environmental impact of agriculture varies based on amount of nitrogen applied to the soil. An indicator
the wide variety of agricultural practices employed reflecting the loss of nitrate to groundwater would
Agronomy

around the world. Ultimately, the environmental be effect-based. The means-based evaluation looks
impact depends on the production practices of the at farmers’ practices of agriculture, and the effect-
system used by farmers. The connection between based evaluation considers the actual effects of the
emissions into the environment and the farming agricultural system.

26 VOL. NO. XVIII, ISSUE NO. 01

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