|
|
 |
An Ecological Footprint is a measure of how much biologically productive land and water area an individual, a city, a country, a region, or humanity requires to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb the waste it generates, using prevailing technology and resource.
Driven by massive increases in the human population in the past 100 years, triple the amount of resources that the Earth can actually provide sustainably are needed to support us. You are living in a critical time where we must make the choice between continuing down the path of self-destruction, or creating a new world where we can maintain our amazing planet for us and our future generations forever. You can be part of the solution by adopting a more eco-friendly lifestyle, supporting the WWF and helping with our conservation activities.
A Scholar's View
For centuries, humans have acted as though supplies of natural resources such as timber for building and firewood are infinite. Such exploitation has merely shifted to more distant localities when local shortages occur, driving a great deal of species to dramatic population crashes or extinction.
"In the last 400 years, 83 mammals, 113 birds, 288 other animals and 650 plants have become extinct. But nearly all of these have occurred in the last century ¡V of the twenty one marine species known to have become extinct since 1700, sixteen have occurred since 1972," says Clive Pointing in his recent book ¡V A New Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilisations.
"There is no doubt that the world is now facing its sixth great extinction of animals and plants (the last one was 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs became extinct). It is caused by human actions ¡V habitat destruction (especially the clearing of tropical forests), hunting and, increasingly, climate change. Species become extinct naturally for a variety of reasons and this ¡¥background' rate is about one to three species a year¡Kthe twentieth century has seen this rate rise to unprecedented levels. Now the extinction rate is about 1,000 times greater than the natural rate¡K," it continued. |
Hong Kong's Role
Human's impact on earth has risen to an unprecedented level due to the most rapid increase in human populations ever recorded in history. The largest and most advanced societies have the biggest responsibility because they are the biggest consumers of limited natural resources. Hong Kong, despite its small size, certainly has a key role to play. A developed and wealthy city such as Hong Kong sees a lot more consumption, waste and pollution per capita than many larger developing countries. We have an obligation to minimise our environmental impact on the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, and to set a shining example for others to follow.
Your action is crucial to helping Hong Kong reduce its ecological footprint and achieve harmony between people and nature. To know how you can act, see our timber, seafood and climate programmes. |
