Ecological footprint
                     Ecological footprint
INTRODUCTION
The Ecological Footprint is the only metric that 
measures how much nature we have and how 
much nature we use.
Source: www.footprintnetwork.org 
Productive Surface Areas
The Ecological Footprint tracks the use of 
productive surface areas. Typically these areas 
are: cropland, grazing land, fishing grounds, built-
up land, forest area, and carbon demand on land.
Source: www.footprintnetwork.org 
Demand Side
On the demand side, the Ecological Footprint 
adds up all the biologically productive areas for 
which a population, a person or a product 
competes.
Source: www.footprintnetwork.org 
Supply Side
On the supply side, a city, state or nation’s 
biocapacity represents the productivity of its 
ecological assets. These areas, especially if left 
unharvested, can also serve to absorb the waste 
we generate, especially our carbon emissions 
from burning fossil fuel.
Source: www.footprintnetwork.org 
Measures
It measures the ecological assets that a given 
population or product requires to produce the 
natural resources it consumes and to absorb its 
waste, especially carbon emissions.
Source: www.footprintnetwork.org 
Global Hectares
Both the Ecological Footprint and biocapacity are 
expressed in global hectares—globally 
comparable hectares with world average 
productivity.
Source: www.footprintnetwork.org 
Biocapacity Deficit
If a population’s Ecological Footprint exceeds the 
region’s biocapacity, that region runs a 
biocapacity deficit. 
Source: www.footprintnetwork.org 
Ecosystem
Its demand for the goods and services that its 
land and seas can provide—fruits and vegetables, 
meat, fish, wood, cotton for clothing, and carbon 
dioxide absorption—exceeds what the region’s 
ecosystems can regenerate.
Source: www.footprintnetwork.org 
Productivity
 The biocapacity per person is determined by 
how many hectares of productive area there is, 
how productive each hectare is, and how many 
people (in a city, country, or the world) share this 
biocapacity.
Source: www.footprintnetwork.org 
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