Ecological footprint: instrument to evaluate the human impacts on nature

Abstract

In the search of a satisfactory life for all within the means of the nature regenerative capacity, the present article relates to the ecological footprint as an indicator of sustainability, able to estimate the human impacts on nature by revealing how much productive land and sea on the planet it is necessary to provide the resources and to assimilate the waste produced by the human activities. A biophysical analyses, on one hand, reveals the ecological reality for a better and safer future. On the other hand, it shows that the human enterprise can not be indefinitely on nature resources. This way, it is possible to establish benchmarks in order to estimate the sustainability extension in different levels of embracement. Key words: human impacts, sustainability, productive area, waste, resources.