The Earth’s biocapacity is the amount of biologically productive area – cropland, pasture, forest, and fisheries – that is available to meet humanity’s needs. Humanity’s footprint first exceeded the Earth’s total biocapacity in the 1980s; this overshoot has been increasing since then.
If our demands on the planet continue at the same rate, by the mid-2030s we will need the equivalent of two planets to maintain our lifestyles. This global overshoot is growing and, as a consequence, ecosystems are being run down and waste is accumulating in the air, land and water. The resulting deforestation, water shortages, declining biodiversity and climate change are putting the well-being and development of all nations at increasing risk.
The ecological footprint is a comprehensive account of the resources consumed by a population, measuring the balance between human demand and nature’s supply. It estimates how much productive land and sea, expressed as global hectares (gha), is needed to provide the energy, food and materials we use in our everyday lives as well as how much land is required to absorb our waste.
The South West’s ecological footprint shows that if everyone on the planet consumed natural resources and energy like the average resident in the region we would need three planets to support us. We are clearly living beyond environmental limits.
Please note - there can be no direct comparison against 2004 data. Please see the SEI website for more information on this.
