Evaluation of the Regional Ecological Environment in Central China Based on the Ecological Footprint Model

ABSTRACT

The ecological footprint is a quantitative biophysical method commonly used to evaluate the status of regional ecological environment and the degree of sustainable development. In this paper, the concept and calculation process of the ecological footprint are introduced by taking a county located in central China as example. Computational analysis and empirical research of the region’s ecological footprint is carried out. It turns out that the per-capita ecological footprint and per-capita Biocapacity of the county is 1.207382hm² and 0.506497hm² respectively, so the per-capita ecological deficit of 0.700885hm²appears, which shows that the pressure put by the social development and human activities have exceeded the Biocapacity of the county and the status of the development is unsustainable. Therefore, on the basis of our study, proposals and measures are raised in the end to build a more sustainable development economy.

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