Open AccessThe ecological footprint of João Monlevade city, Brazil – Conventional Method
Author(s) -
Cataryna Raisa Lage Morais,
Ana Rosa Aon Cardoso Fernandes,
Elton Santos Franco,
Izabel Cristina Marques,
Nayara Rodrigues Marques Sakiyama
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/588/2/022025
Subject(s) - ecological footprint , hectare , population , footprint , natural resource , consumption (sociology) , environmental science , geography , work (physics) , sustainable development , sustainable consumption , environmental protection , environmental resource management , sustainability , ecology , engineering , demography , mechanical engineering , social science , archaeology , sociology , biology , agriculture
The Ecological Footprint (EF) is a measure of the burden imposed by a population on nature. It represents the soil area required to sustain resource consumption and waste generation levels, expressed in units of a hectare per person. This work aims to calculate and evaluate the EF of a small city in Brazil, João Monlevade (JM) - Minas Gerais (MG). For the calculation, the conventional method proposed by Wackernagel and Rees in the ‘90s was used. It is based on the sum of the footprint of variables calculated from the annual average of consumption items, dividing the total consumption by the population size, subtracted from the biocapacity. JM’s biocapacity and EF are 0.048, and 0.643 ha / inhabits, respectively. Therefore, local consumption exceeds the support capacity of the natural environment, making it necessary to have an adequate environmental municipality planning. The most significant footprint was related to CO 2 emission from burning fossil fuels, 0.47 ha / inhab., indicating the need to implement mitigation measures. It is concluded that the calculation of the municipality’s EF points out more sustainable ways for a better population life quality. However, the calculation requires improvement, with the definition of other relevant indicators and data careful analysis.