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PROGRESS WITHIN LIMITS
Table-2: Changes In Select Indicators Of India’s Bio Capacity And Its Use
Per capita Availability Of:
Year Population
(million)
Land
(ha)
Farm
Land
(ha)
Forest
Area
(ha)
Population
Density
(per
q.km)
Energy
generated
(Billion
KWH)
Crude
Oil
Imports
(Millon
Tonnes)
Imports Of
Petroleum
(Million
tonnes)
Production
Of Coal
(Million
tonnes)
Export (US$
Million)
(including
re-exports)
Import
(US$
Million)
1951 361.1 110 0.91 0.64 0.113 6.6 3.1 32.3 1490 1852
1961 439.2 134 0.75 0.50 0.124 20.1 6 2.5 55.2 1381 2281
1971 548.2 167 0.60 0.41 0.115 61.2 11.7 1.1 76.3 2153 2443
1981 683.3 208 0.48 0.36 0.099 129.2 16.2 7.3 119 8704 15174
1991 846.3 257 0.39 0.30 0.081 289.4 20.7 8.7 225.5 17865 19411
2001 1028.7 313 0.30 0.25 0.074 554.5 78.7 7.0 332.6 43827 51413
Source: Ministry of Environment and Forests,Government of India (Various Reports).
cal footprints enable people to take personal
or collective actions in support of a
world where humanity lives within the
means of one planet (WWF, 2006; Global
footprint network). The available estimates
show that India’s ecological footprint
per person (0.8 global hectares) is
lower than the world average (2.2 global
hectares) but it is much higher than the
nations' biocapacity and this has placed
India in the list of “ecological deficit”
countries. The Living Planet Report -
2006 ranked India as the third largest
footprint country followed by United
States and China. “India’s total ecological
footprint is likely to increase due to the
twin pressures from population and consumption
patterns unless suitable actions
are taken. In 2002, the humanity’s per person
footprint was 2.2 global hectares (gha)
whereas the bio capacity per person was
1.8 gha. India’s footprint was 0.8 gha
which is lower than world average but
lower than the nation’s biocapacity (04
gha). Between 1975 and 2003, India’s foot
print per person has increased faster (16
percent) than that of the world (14 percent)
but much lower than many other economies.
The ecological footprint estimates
indicate that India’s bio-capacity is not
sufficient to meet the needs of the nations'
growing population. In other words, future
development in India is also dependant
on the use of natural resources of
other countries. Globalization makes it
possible to use these resources legally and
openly. The nation has committed to conservation
of natural resources and biodiversity
and implemented several policy
and legal measures. It is also party to
many Multilateral Environmental Agreements
(MEAs) such as Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD), CITES, Montreal
Table-2: Changes In Select Indicators Of India’s Bio Capacity And Its Use
Protocol. In practice,
Country Ecological
Footprint
(Demand)
Biocapacity
(Supply)
(gha. Per
Ecol. Footprint –
Biocapacity =Ecological
Reserve Or
Footprint
Change Per
Person (%)
Biocapacity
Change Per
Person (%)
these measures have regulated
or prohibited consumptive
use (extraction) of natural resources
in India. However,
(gha. Per Person) Ecological Deficit (-) 1975-2003 1975-2003
Person) 2003 2003 gha. Per Person)2003
this gives economic opportunities
for many biodiversity
India 0.8 0.4 -0.4 16 -23
China 1.6 0.8 -0.9 82 -3
rich countries where such resources
Brazil
South Africa
USA
Indonesia
World
Source: WWF (2006)
2.1
2.3
9.6
1.1
2.2
9.9
2.0
4.7
1.0
1.8
7.8
-0.3
-4.8
-0.1
-0.45
30
-13
38
36
14
-27
-23
-20
-20
-25
are abundant. For
example, felling of timber is
prohibited, wood in log forms
cannot be exported from India
with a view to safeguard
our remaining forests. But,
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