Using ecological footprint analysis to measure sustainability in a Himalayan tourist centre
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Date
2000-03-01T00:00:00Z
Authors
Cole, Victoria
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Abstract
Finding ways to measure and assess the long-term sustainability of cities has become a critical task. Among the methods that have been proposed to achieve this task is Ecological Footprint (EF), or Appropriated Carrying Capacity, Analysis. EF analysis, which was developed by William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel, measures the land and resources a society consumes in order to sustain itself. The EF of a region is the area of productive land required to provide all the energy and material resources consumed and to absorb all of the wastes discharged by the population of the region using current technology, wherever on earth that land is located (Wackernagel & Rees 1996). The purpose of this study was to use EF analysis to quantify the sustainability of Manali, a rapidly urbanizing tourist centre in the Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh, India. The study looked at changes in the size of Manali's footprint since the advent of mass tourism in the early 1980's; the direct effect that tourists are having on the size of the footprint; and the challenges of applying this analysis in a developing world situation. Data regarding such things as land use, goods and services, and population were collected for the Manali region through local interviews and available written materials. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)