Humans influence biodiversity by the population numbers, lifestyles and the use of land which causes damage to the habitats of species. Humans should realize how their actions have an impact on biodiversity so that they can maintain the remaining biodiversity on earth. This can be done through proper education to preserve this biodiversity. Notably, every individual that lives on the surface of the earth lives in his or her ecological footprint ( Gössling et al., 2012 ). An ecological footprint is a way that estimates the demand that is subjected to nature.
To calculate ecological footprint, a person should take into consideration items such a home size, cooling or heating resources, water sources, food consumption, energy usage, recycling habits, and transportation habits. Most importantly, calculating a person’s footprint simply means analyzing his or her lifestyle ( Wilson and Anielski, 2011 ). The result obtained in the matrix is compared to the average of the country consumption profile and then distributed to personal ecological footprint in several categories. For instance, if an individual indicates that they eat twice as much beef as the national average, the beef consumption footprint will be double in the re-calculated overall footprint score. Also, a person who consumes little beef will receive a fraction of the national average beef footprint. It has been noted that much of the world live unsustainably. This simply implies that individuals are utilizing resources faster than they can be replenished ( Zhao et al. 2015 ). It is therefore important for people to change the lifestyles and focus on sustainability.
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There are significant changes that an individual can make to reduce ecological footprint and consequently minimize biodiversity loss. It is important for human to regulate the usage of water, energy and home size. On the issue of energy use, a person can decrease energy consumption by using wind and solar energy which is more sustainable. Besides, a person can recycle water and use it for different purposes. People should also adopt public transport instead of using a personalized mean of transport.
References
Gössling, S., Hansson, C. B., Hörstmeier, O., & Saggel, S. (2012). Ecological footprint analysis as a tool to assess tourism sustainability. Ecological economics , 43 (2-3), 199-211.
Wilson, J., & Anielski, M. (2011). The Alberta GPI accounts: ecological footprint. Drayton Valley, AB: Pembina Institute. Retrieved June , 1 , 2007.
Zhao, X., Xiao, L., Lan, Y., Wang, S., & Ma, C. (2015). Dynamics of ecological footprint and ecological capacity of Shaanxi. Zhongguo nongye kexue , 38 (4), 746-753.
