Biological Resource Management Lab Exercise 1

Study Notes

Biological Resource Management Lab Exercise 1: Estimation of Your Ecological Footprint

The exercise is about estimating one's ecological footprint.
The ecological footprint measures the demands made by a person or group on global resources.
It was introduced by William Rees in 1992.
It evaluates the environmental impact of human activities.
The footprint assesses the total land area needed to sustain an activity or population.
This includes impacts like water use and land used for food production.
Footprints can be calculated for regions, countries, cities, individuals, businesses, or the entire planet.
An ecological footprint indicates the pressure humans put on available natural resources.
The footprint is measured in "global hectares" (gha).
It considers the need for renewable resources and waste absorption capacity.
It measures biocapacity, which is the Earth's ability to regenerate resources.
Activities such as livestock, timber, plant-based food, and infrastructure space are assessed.
The footprint evaluates the demand and supply of natural resources.
Unsustainable consumption patterns are highlighted using the footprint.
Educators and activists employ the footprint to raise awareness and promote lifestyle changes and wider structural changes.
Biocapacity/biological capacity is the estimation of Earth’s production of biological materials (natural resources and carbon dioxide).
Combining biocapacity and footprint measurement yields information on human impacts on the environment.
Measuring local biocapacity helps determine deficit or reserve areas of a given region, revealing if a region is exceeding or undershooting its biocapacity.
Data on Ecological Footprint (gha) and Biocapacity (gha) are shown for various countries.
Key factors like transportation, energy consumption, food production, and waste generation affect the ecological footprint.

Objectives

Objectives include identifying carbon, food, and goods footprints.
To estimate the ecological footprint for a given situation.
To analyze ecological footprints.
To interpret and understand ecological footprints.

Materials and Methods

Students need to find an ecological footprint calculator online; cite the source of the calculator.
Calculate and document the individual ecological footprint.
Estimate the footprint for at least two more individuals.
Develop a visual representation (graph or map) of the human footprint to compare individual impacts and geographic areas.
Identify ways to reduce the ecological footprint.