Ecological footprint and the wealth of people from socioecological point of view

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY KERAIA VINCE MATEO GERONIMO ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT AND THE NATURAL WEALTH OF PEOPLE FROM PALEMBANG, INDONESIA FROM SOCIOECO

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY

KERAIA VINCE MATEO GERONIMO

ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT AND THE NATURAL WEALTH

OF PEOPLE FROM PALEMBANG, INDONESIA FROM SOCIOECOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW

BACHELOR THESIS

Study Mode : Full- time

Major : Bachelor in Environmental Science and

Management

Faculty : International Program Office

Batch : 2012-2016

Thai Nguyen, 2017

Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry

Degree Program Bachelor in Environmental Science and Management

Student Name Keraia Vince Mateo Geronimo

Thesis Title ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT AND THE WEALTH OF

PEOPLE FROM SOCIOECOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW

Supervisors Arinafril Naalim, P.hD

Duong Van Thao, P.hD

Abstract

The depletion of earth’s natural resources and the demand of the increasing population

is certainly one of the biggest problems that humans are facing nowadays Humans are

using 1.6 planets for all the resources used and absorbing waste which means it take

one year and six months for the earth to regenerate the resources consumed in a year

But the good news is that humans are gifted with the potential for self-awareness and

intelligent choice, and knowing our circumstances in an invitation to change Thus, to

achieve sustainability, a special tool can be used This tool is designed to calculate the

ecological footprint of an individual or a certain place However, this study focused on

the ecological footprint of the people from Palembang, Indonesia An ecological

footprint test was conducted and the scores were analyzed to find out if educational

attainment is significant on how people behave towards the nature Furthermore, the

results have shown that the use of natural resources is not in line with educational level

of the respondents This explained that educational attainment did not affect the

ecological footprint of an individual

Keywords: Ecological Footprint, Ecological Footprint Analysis,

Sustainability, Education Number of pages Forty-three (43) pages

Date of Submission April, 2017

First and foremost, I declare my highest praise and my deepest gratitude to

our FATHER GOD for the overwhelming love; for making me as strong as I can

be; for all the blessing and for guiding me to be a better person

To my parents, Roumel and Maribel Geronimo, and my siblings, Kim and

Keanah, for the unconditional love; for the help and support; and for being my

strength and inspiration

To my grandmother, my most precious Lola During, for all the prayers, for

the endless love and care; and for being one of my greatest inspiration

My sincerest thanks to my adviser, Dr Arinafril Naalim and the University

of Sriwijaya for the warm welcome and accommodation during our stay in Palembang, Indonesia Also to Mr Muhammad Abduh for helping me in

collecting my data And to all my lovely Indonesian friends especially Rotua,

Naufal and Umiya for being nice and for all the help

To the Advanced Education Program, Thai Nguyen University of

Agriculture and Forestry and the University of California, Davis together with

Dr Duong Van Thao and the staffs for the great opportunity that was given to us

To my classmates, K44 AEP, for the awesome moments that we spent inside

and outside the class And to our seniors from K42 and K43 for being a good role

model to all of us

To all the international and Filipino students that serves as my second family

in Vietnam especially Ate Jimlea, Jose, Ye, Colleene, Alex, Joshua, and Kuya

Ezekiel for being such a great friend and for the endless motivation

And lastly, to all my friends back home for always giving me smiles; for

motivating and inspiring me; for making me happy and keeping in touch

I am so blessed to have you all with me in this wonderful journey My

sincerest and deepest thanks

The Researcher,

Keraia Vince M Geronimo

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv

Table of Contents vi

List of Figures viii

List of Tables ix

Part I Introduction 1

1.1 Research Rationale 1

1.2 Research’s Objectives 3

1.3 Research Questions 3

1.4 Significance of the Study 3

1.5 Hypothesis 4

1.5.1 Null Hypothesis 4

1.5.2 Alternative Hypothesis 4

1.6 Scope and Limitation 4

1.7 Definition of Terms 5

1.8 Assumption of the Study 5

PART II LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Ecological Footprint 6

2.2 Ecological Footprint Analysis 11

2.3 Global Ecological Footprint Problems 14

2.4 Importance of Educational Level for Humanity 16

PART III METHODS 19

3.1 Research Location 19

3.2 Materials 19

3.3 Research Design 19

3.4 Sampling Technique 19

3.5 Data Collection 20

3.6 Data Analysis 20

3.6.1 Ecological Footprint Test Scoring 21

PART IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 23

PART V CONCLUSION 28

REFERENCES 31

List of Figures

Figure 1 Components of Ecological Footprint 6

Figure 2 Per-person Ecological Footprint and biocapacity of world regions in 2002 7

Figure 3 Growing Global Footprint 15

Figure 4 Ecological Footprint Comparison 25

Figure 5 Correspondence Analysis 26

Part I Introduction

1.1 Research Rationale

As of now the world is facing environmental issues particularly affecting our

ecosystem which would not be ignored It is a fact that as the population increases;

the consumption of the natural wealth also increases with it The world’s economy

ultimately relied on goods and services derived from the natural resources The natural wealth provides human’s essential needs to support our living requirements

(e.g food, water, shelter, etc.) By consuming these goods and services, people have

a huge impact on earth, particularly in our day to day living But since nature has

the ability to regenerate and resupply our needs, it can support human demand as

long as the demand stays within the regenerative capacity of the biosphere This

relationship between human beings and the ecosystem makes humans to be

responsible of the sudden changes In many parts of the world, increased human

ecological burden poses a problem with our natural resources Yet not everyone is

aware of the problem that comes with the over-consumption of the natural

resources The question is how can we determine if we are consuming too much or

if our supply is enough for sustaining our needs?

Rees and Wackernagel (Columbia, 1992) invented a special tool to measure the human’s impact on earth and to provide evidence of the impacts of consumption The footprint demonstrates how much “nature” is available for certain populations and the size of the footprint depends on the natural resources consumed

by the population based on their choice of lifestyle, income and technology The

higher the demand of a society, the higher natural resources needed, thus, this

situation resulted on higher ecological footprint Furthermore, if the ecological

footprint value is compared to its bio-capacity (environmental capacity to supply

natural resources) level, sustainability of a region can be identified By that, future

mitigation or policies can be implemented

Palembang is the second-largest city in the Island of Sumatra and the capital

city of South Sumatra Province in Indonesia The city has been developing

economically through the years with an increasing population However, due to

recent environmental changes that we are experiencing, it is important to balance

economic and environmental status and for the community to be aware of their

surroundings With the use of ecological footprint, we can assess our pressure on

planet, determine and manage the ecological assets more wisely and take personal

and collective actions It can be a good opportunity for the society to gain

knowledge and change their life styles to have a more balanced relationship

between nature and economy

Moreover, this paper examined if the educational level of the respondents

has a relationship with the use of natural resources Thus, education affected the

way people think and behave towards the environment Education is one of the most

important means in building a sustainable environment

1.2 Research’s Objectives

General Objective

This study aimed to determine the ecological footprint and wealth in a

socioecological point of view of the people from Palembang, South Sumatra

Indonesia

Specific Objectives

The study also aims the following:

 To know people’s behavior towards the environment and natural resources

 To provide information and recommendations in accordance to the results of the study

 To enlighten the readers regarding the topic

1.3 Research Questions

The following are the questions to be answered by the end of the research

 What is the ecological footprint of the people from Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia?

 Does the condition of the people affect their ecological footprint?

 How can ecological footprint analysis help in achieving a sustainable living?

 Why is it important to know one’s ecological footprint?

1.4 Significance of the Study

The result of this study will bring benefits; firstly, to the author for it will be

a fulfillment and a great source of knowledge It can also bring knowledge to the

readers and can be used as a baseline reference for the future researchers But most

importantly, this study could provide information about ecological footprint and

encourage the people to change environmental behavior towards the nature and to

use the natural resources wisely and carefully for a sustainable environment and for

the future generation

1.5 Hypothesis

1.5.1 Null Hypothesis

The use of natural resources is in line with education level

1.5.2 Alternative Hypothesis

The use of natural resources is not in line with educational level

1.6 Scope and Limitations

The scope of this study focused on the ecological footprint and wealth of the

people from Palembang

However, there is a limited communication with the respondents Not all the

respondents can speak English so the researcher was not able to do the interview

herself and could not ask more than what is written on the translated questionnaire

The honesty of the respondents in answering the questions asked by the

researcher or answered through the questionnaire is not assured though the

researcher cannot control the way the respondents want to answer

1.7 Definition of Terms

The following are defined to provide a clearer understanding on the

terminologies used in the study:

Ecological footprint The estimated impact of human activities in terms of

waste and resource consumption

Nature Provides a steady supply of human’s basic requirements in life and

also absorbs the waste and provides life support services

Education The process of facilitating learning or the achievement of

knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits

Educational Level It pertains to the education attained by the respondents

Sustainability The possibility of all people living rewarding lives within the

means of nature

1.8 Assumption of the Study

The researcher assumes that the educational level of the respondents has a

significant relationship with their ecological footprint

PART II LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Ecological Footprint

Wackernagel and Rees (1996) defined ecological footprint as the estimated

impacts of human activities in terms of the waste and resource consumption of a

human population or economy associated with the existing resources The

Ecological Footprint approach is intended to show the dependency of human being

to their environment and also to reserve the natural resources for future mankind

(Fallis, 2013) They explained further that if a small society or city were to be

isolated from the rest of the world through a glass dome, the resources within the

city, trapped together with the population would eventually be scarce and this

scarcity will eventually be a threat to our survival

Figure 1 Components of Ecological Footprint

(Source: Global Footprint Network)

Figure 1 demonstrates the components of ecological footprint Ecological

Footprint measures the amount of biologically productive land and sea area an

individual, a region, or a human activity requires producing the resources it

consumes and absorbing the carbon dioxide emissions, and compares this

measurement to how much land and sea area is available Biologically productive

land and sea includes area that supports human demand for food, fiber, timber,

energy and space for infrastructure and absorbs the carbon dioxide emissions from

the human economy Biologically productive areas include cropland, forest and

fishing grounds that are able to provide ecological resources or services used by

capacity of world regions in year 2002 The footprint and bio capacity story

becomes considerably more varied at the level of regions as shown in figure 2

Citizens from North America and Western Europe, for example, live at levels of

ecological demand that exceed the biocapacity available within those geographical

areas If everyone in the world would live the same with most of the North American or Western European, global society would overshoot the planet’s biocapacity three to five fold Eastern Europe lives within the biocapacity available

in that region, but with a level of consumption that cannot be sustainably adopted at

a global scale The Asia-Pacific region lives beyond the biocapacity available

within its borders, but with an Ecological Footprint that would not cause overshoot

if extended globally Residents of Africa, on average, use less than the biocapacity

available per person either regionally or globally (Kitzes et al., 2008)

However, from the result of the “Ecological Footprint of Indonesia” table 1 was presented to show the calculation of the components of ecological footprint and

biocapacity of Indonesia

The table presents that there are surplus on land carrying capacity (the difference

between biocapacity and ecological footprint) of grazing land, forest land, and

fishing grounds The highest component for the land carrying capacity is fishing

grounds (0.26 gha/person) High biocapacity level for fishing ground is mainly due

to the location of most regions in Indonesia are on the coastlines with high potential for fishing grounds with high biodiversity of the marine‐ ecology For the cropland components the ratio between the ecological footprint value and its biocapacity

value are similar, that is 0.35 gha/person This shows that the demand from the

population towards the agricultural product and the environmental capacity as the

supplier of agricultural product are still aligned The carrying capacity for forest

land supplier is the second highest in Indonesia (right after the fishing grounds) that

is 0.16 gha/person Forest land in Indonesia has two very opposite functions, as a

location to preserve the environment and the ecosystem, and part of the forest land

is also used for other activities, such as plantation, agriculture, housing and mining

This would potentially lower the carrying capacity of forest land Nevertheless, the

ratio between the biocapacity and ecological footprint value for this component is

still high, compared to the other components So it is safe to say, that in utilizing the

forest land, Indonesian still does prioritize the achievement of sustainability In

total, it is concluded that the ecological footprint of Indonesia is still sustainable

because the biocapacity of the country is still in reserve condition

2.2 Ecological Footprint Analysis

Ecological Footprint Analysis is compared to the ecological footprint with

available bio capacity It compares biological capacity used against what is available on a renewable basis When humanity’s footprint is smaller than global bio capacity it is considered sustainable When it is larger, it is reported to be

engaging ecological overshoot or running a negative ecological balance (Venetoulis

& Talberth, 2008) The technique was designed both analytical and educational It is

not only to assess sustainability of human activities but also as an effective tool in

building public awareness and assisting decision-making (Wackernagel & Rees,

1996)

They also stated that Ecological Footprint is not about “how bad things are”

rather it is about how dependent humans are to nature and the things we can do to

secure the capacity of our Earth to support humans now and in the future Although

it may seem painful but the EF approach acknowledges that humanity is facing

difficult challenges, makes them apparent, and leads action towards sustainable

living However, sustainability can be achieved if the use of natural resources and

environment are still considering the carrying capacity and the capacity of the

environment By then and only then the harmony between the natural and artificial

environment can be achieved (Fallis, 2013)

Furthermore, Ecological Footprint accounting is based on six fundamental

assumptions (Wackernagel et al 2002):

 The majority of the resources people consume and the wastes they generate can be tracked

 Most of these resource and waste flows can be measured in terms of the biologically productive area necessary to maintain flows Resource and

waste flows that cannot be measured are excluded from the assessment, leading to a systematic underestimate of humanity’s true Ecological Footprint

 By weighting each area in proportion to its bioproductivity, different types of areas can be converted into the common unit of global hectares, hectares

with world average bioproductivity

 Because a single global hectare represents a single use, and all global hectares in any single year represent the same amount of bioproductivity,

they can add up to obtain an aggregate indicator of ecological footprint or

biocapacity

 Human demand, expressed as the Ecological Footprint, can be directly compared to nature’s supply, biocapacity, when both are expressed in global hectares

 Area demanded can exceed area supplied if demand on an ecosystem exceeds that ecosystems regenerative capacity (e.g., humans can temporarily

demand more biocapacity from forests, or fisheries, than those ecosystems

have available)

On account of the advanced knowledge on sustainable development, the

government of Indonesia took the initiative to raise the awareness on environmental

issues like global warming and climate change The environmental issues made

them do the action to prevent further damage to the environment The method used

in the study of “Ecological Footprint of Indonesia” is the method developed by the

Global Footprint Network (GFN, USA) written in the Guidebook to the National

Footprint Accounts 2008 (Fallis, 2013) However, although the study experienced

difficulty in obtaining the data, the methods provided by GFN is perfectly

compatible with the condition of Indonesia The result shows that the biocapacity of

Indonesia is still in reserved condition After knowing the condition policy

implementation could be formulated and further recommendations were presented

So far, EFA is a largely heuristic tool that has been widely used in

sustainability analyses through years (Venetoulis & Talberth, 2008) but this study

used the simpler way of analyzing ecological footprint which is using ecological

footprint quiz that focus on the personal footprint of the respondents And millions

of people each year take the popular ‘‘footprint quiz’’ to understand how their consumption choices can be made more sustainable Thus, according to Seyfang (2003) the ecological footprint is a ‘‘touchstone for understanding the obligations of ecological citizens as a justice based account of how we should live’’ Likewise,

Recide (2015), a student researcher also used ecological footprint quiz as one of her

tool to determine the role of emotion in developing a pro-environmental behavior

with the influence of environmental changes She conducted an EF test as one of her

method As a result of her study it showed that emotion significantly affects the

willingness of the participants to be engaged to a pro-environmental behavior

2.3 Global Ecological Footprint Problems

As our world is a closed system, which means that no resources comes in and out of the planet, the earth’s capacity to support life is very limited; ecological interaction (e.g plant and animals) determines the capacity of nature to recycle the

necessary requirement for promoting a sustainable ecology for the next generation

The ecological footprint of a city is proportional to both population and the per

capita resources consumption, thus computing the ecological footprint of a study

population would determine how much area of land would be required if every

society would follow the same lavish actions (Wackernagel & Rees, 1996)

According to the latest report from the WWF (2014), for the last 50-60 years,

humanity has already exceeded the resource demand that our planet can provide, it

was said that we would need another 1.5 earth in order to replenish and provide the

ecological services we are currently using Carbon from burning fossil fuel has been

a dominating factor in human's ecological footprint for more than half a century and

continues to an upward trend For the last 50-60 years, carbon footprint rose from

36% (1960s) to 53% (2010s)

Figure 3 Growing Global Footprint

The advancement of technology ,especially in agriculture, humans are a now

able to harvest more crops per hectare affecting the growth of human population

from estimated 3.1 billion (1960) to about 7 billion (2010), and rising, reducing the

available bio capacity that the planet can provide, increasing our chances in facing

soil degradation, water scarcity and increased energy production By 2010, the

ecological footprint has reached 18.1 billion gha more than the 12 billion gha bio

capacity of our planet (Figure 3) (WWF Living Planet Report 2014)

The problem of the effects of our ecological footprint is a global problem,

not only the developing countries but also those developed one; the United States,

being a major player in the consumption of resources, also faces the same problem

It was determined that every American would require an estimated area of 6 acres

per individual and 5 acres for each European For both countries/ continent, Europe

is in dire deficit because its land area is small compared to the U.S (Bazan, 1997)

Conventional economical practices based on monetary measures to alleviate

poverty contributes to the unsustanability problem we are experiencing, causing the

rich benefit to the act while depreciates the poor to the benefits (Wackernagel ,

2010) An example happened in the Philippines, where the government during the

1960s-1980s focused their attention on the impending economic growth of the

country but neglected to consider the effects of the sudden economic uplift of the

country until the effects has already felt by the country (Puno, 2003)

Now the common challenge that we are facing is to achieve higher levels of

social and economic development while reducing poverty and the degradation of

natural capital and ecosystem services that underpin livelihoods and the natural

environment Strategies are needed that resulted in more sustainable use of bio

capacity and greater efficiency in resource use (NI, 2012).

2.4 Importance of Educational Level for Humanity

Human plays an important role towards the environmental issues that we are

facing nowadays But the good news is, as Wackernagel & Rees quoted, “humans

are gifted with the potential for self-awareness and intelligent choice, and knowing our circumstances is an invitation to change.” According to Wackernagel & Rees

people possess to show different behaviors because they have different ways of

thinking Thus, higher education bear a profound, moral responsibility to increase

the awareness, knowledge, skills, and values needed to create a just and sustainable

future (Cortese, 2003) Venkatraja (2011) stated that education is one of the most

important means to develop personal endowments, build abilities, overcome

constraints and in the process, enlarge available set of opportunities and choices for

a sustained improvement in well-being And there is a high connection between

educational attainment and social dimension of development at individual level It

shows that education is important in influencing the social well-being of

individuals

Furthermore, there is a wide agreement that education plays a significant role

in motivating and empowering people to achieve a more sustainable life In 1973, Schumacher described education as the “greatest resource” for achieving ecological society Since then, the major international reports have emphasized the critical role

of education is to play in search for sustainable living (Fien & Tilbury, 1998)

It was stated in Earth Summit that “Education is critical for promoting

sustainable development and improving the capacity of the people to address environment and development issues It is critical for achieving environmental and ethical awareness, values and attitudes, skills and behaviour consistent with sustainable development and for effective public participation in decision- making” (UNCED 1992)

However, Gough & Sharpley (2005) stated that education is mostly gained at

school or university People were provided education and knowledge from learning

at school By that, people needs to understand the complexity of the world in which

they live and to have the knowledge, critical thinking skills, values and capacity to

participate in decision making about environmental and development issues From

there, people will be able to apply the knowledge and learning in real life situations