An Indicator of Our Pressure on the Land: New Zealand's Ecological Footprint

Abstract

Sustainability has become a primary goal for much of the legislation which governs resource management in New Zealand. A major difficulty associated with sustainable development objectives, however, is the absence of reliable indicators to measure progress towards the goal of sustainability. The ‘ecological footprint’ provides an estimate of the amount of ecologically productive land required on a continuous basis to sustain current levels of resource consumption and waste assimilation for a given population. By comparing the ecological footprint of a community with the amount of land available, we can more clearly determine whether our current consumption patterns are likely to be sustainable. This paper explores the use of ecological footprint analysis within a New Zealand context. Modifications to the existing procedure for calculating an ecological footprint are proposed, and estimates based on the modified procedures are presented for New Zealand.

The Ecological Footprint of Wellingtonians in the 1950s

“…The energy to land ratio of the area must be identified, and this is typically 100GJ/ha (earth's capacity to assimilate CO2) according to Wackernagel and Rees. However, some countries, such as New Zealand, have more productive forests; because of this New Zealand forests may yield up to 150 GJ/ha/year (Bicknell et al, 1998). This value also assumes that all energy consumed is derived from fossil fuels, and does not account for hydro-electricity or wind generation, which form some of New Zealand's primary energy supply.…”

“…The first study and methodology discussed in relation to New Zealand, is that conducted by Bicknell et al in Lincoln University in 1996. Bicknell et al (1998 used a methodology based upon that developed by Wackernagel and Rees (1996) to calculate the ecological footprint of New Zealand for 1991.…”

“…The aim of the research published by Bicknell et al was to 'propose the use of a modified form of inputoutput analysis to calculate the ecological footprint' (Bicknell et al, 1998). In discussing the modified methodology used, Bicknell states that the methodology used by Wackernagel and Rees to calculate the Canadian ecological footprint relies on an 'eclectic mixture of data sources, drawing on research from several countries and spanning an extremely long time horizon' (Bicknell et al, 1998). Therefore, the results 'cannot be easily reproduced or meaningfully compared across time or between populations' (ibid).…”

“…The methodology used for this study was based upon that developed by Bicknell et al (1998), as discussed above. The methodology calculated the ecological footprints based on an input-output analysis, which tracked the flow of embodied land.…”

“…This total ecological footprint for New Zealand equates to a per capita ecological footprint of 3.08 ha per person (MFE, 2003, Section 3.1.1) for the year 1997/98. The Bicknell (Bicknell et al,1998) case study of New Zealand, calculated the per capita ecological footprint at 3.49 ha per person (MFE, 2003, Section 3.1.1) for the year 1991. The Ministry for the Environment's report discusses several reasons why Bicknell's estimate is higher that their calculation.…”